welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm monica miller. the headlines: daily covid infections in china hit a record high, despite crippling restrictions and snap lockdowns. the return of anwar ibrahim — malaysia's king installs the veteran politician to form a new government. in iran, 300 people have been killed in the last eight the un human rights council votes for an international investigation into the violent suppression of protests in iran.

we'll be looking back at thursday's world cup matches and ahead to friday's, as england and wales take on iran and the usa. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin in china, which is reporting record numbers of covid infections. cities across the country have imposed new lockdown measures to try to control the spread of the virus. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from china's capital beijing. a variety of lockdown strategies have been put in place in cities right across china. this country has a strict antivirus approach, but it hasn't stopped it recording the highest level of infections since the pandemic began.

with zero covid smashing livelihoods, officials recently announced steps to take the pressure off business. they haven't eased economic stress and have watered down virus protection. many here are now openly questioning the government's approach. translation: it's hard to find a “ob during the pandemic. d i'm the only child in my family. now i carry the burden of paying for the mortgage and car loans all by myself. it's really more difficult to find a job during the pandemic. translation: only by easing the covid-19 restrictions can l people live a normal life. otherwise everything stops. how many people have the savings to support themselves if things continually stay halted? and even if you have money to stay at home every day, that's not true living. that's lingering on the last breath of air. clashes at the massive foxconn facility have been a key flashpoint for zero covid tensions.

the company, which is the world's largest producer of apple iphones, has struggled to maintain production inside a covid lockdown bubble. it's now apologised to protesting workers, saying there was a misunderstanding regarding the delayed payment of crisis bonuses. but crowds of workers were still leaving the factory today. the streets in beijing are pretty quiet at the moment, following the measures which have been put in place to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the chinese capital. i was under lockdown myself earlier today after our compound told us we all had to stay indoors until we'd done a series of pcr tests, then they'd let us out again. well, that's not the same for the residents living in thousands of tower blocks here in beijing. they'll have to stay at home for at least the next few days. everywhere in china, there is covid fatigue. the chinese government seems to have backed itself into a corner with its covid strategy. there is great pressure on it to change tack. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.

for more on that, i am joined now by benjamin cowling, professor and chair of epidemiology at hong kong university. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. why exactly are these cases so high in china? the latest omicron _ these cases so high in china? tue: latest omicron sub these cases so high in china? tte: latest omicron sub variance on more transmissible than ever before, and i think that the measures that it are being used in china are struggling to stop transmission when it happens so quickly and with such intensity, with the a5 in the latest more recent than ba five. fine intensity, with the a5 in the latest more recent than ba five.- more recent than ba five. one of the reasons the — more recent than ba five. one of the reasons the chinese _ more recent than ba five. one of the reasons the chinese government - more recent than ba five. one of the| reasons the chinese government says that they are keeping with the zero covid policy is to protect those who are vulnerable and are older. there also seems to be quite a bit of resistance to vaccination. why is there this reluctance to get vaccinated?— there this reluctance to get vaccinated? �* , ., , .,

vaccinated? there's a number of different reasons _ vaccinated? there's a number of different reasons why _ vaccinated? there's a number of different reasons why older - vaccinated? there's a number of l different reasons why older people particularly are less keen to get vaccinated, but i think one of the major reasons would have to be the zero covid policy. if the covenant continuously resource people that there will not be a large epidemic of covid in different cities across the country, then what's the incentive for order people to get vaccinated? because they are not expected to get covid if they trust the government to protect them from getting covid. so i think clear messaging public was done in singapore, australia and new zealand, that covid will spread sooner or later and it is better to get vaccinated before getting infected, that kind of messaging would make a difference in terms of reducing hesitancy and order adults and not only that but i think some order adults are having had three doses. some have not had their most recentjab in the last six month, so there is a need to continue the booster programme

and even give forth doses as well as increase the uptake of first and second doses.— increase the uptake of first and second doses. ., , second doses. one of the things we did see in stephen _ second doses. one of the things we did see in stephen mcdonell's - second doses. one of the things we | did see in stephen mcdonell's peace is a feeling of people who are just tired, weary and maybe even anxious, depressed stop mental health is really taking a toll on many people who have been locked down as this goes on for almost three years. what are the long—term implications of this mental stress? are the long-term implications of this mental stress?— this mental stress? there is enormous — this mental stress? there is enormous implications, - this mental stress? there is enormous implications, not| this mental stress? there is - enormous implications, not only on mental health but on other elements of physical health, in terms of the zero covid measures, the prolonged lockdowns. inability to seek routine medical appointments, to get the screening or treatment for cancer and so on, and of course the mental health impact that you mention. so i think we have to balance the advantage of these measures, getting covid cases down, although that is not happening at the moment, but

—— with the cost of this. -- with the cost of this. benjamin -- with the cost of this. ben'amin cowlin: , -- with the cost of this. ben'amin cowung. thankfi -- with the cost of this. ben'amin cowling, thank you i -- with the cost of this. ben'amin cowling, thank you for h -- with the cost of this. benjamin cowling, thank you for coming - -- with the cost of this. benjamin cowling, thank you for coming on | -- with the cost of this. benjamin - cowling, thank you for coming on the programme. malaysia's constitutional monarch king abdullah has announced that anwar ibrahim will be the country's next prime minister. he made the announcement after a general election last saturday in which no parties won a majority of seats in parliament. the decision follows five days of intense negotiations over possible political coalitions. our south east asia correspondentjonathan head reports on anwar ibrahim's remarkable politicaljourney. a historic moment for malaysia and foranwar ibrahim, as he was sworn in by the yang di—pertuan agong, malaysia's king. was there ever another politician who waited so long for the top job and came so close so often? at the age of 75, mr anwar�*s appointment marks what is probably the final chapter in a remarkable political odyssey.

the past five days have seen constant comings and goings at the royal palace, as the king tried to broker a deal between the various political factions. none had come close to winning a majority in last weekend's election and many of their leaders have personal and ideological disputes which will make working together difficult. a quarter of a century ago, anwar ibrahim also seemed on the brink of power. he was then a rising star in the ruling party, umno, and the anointed successor to long—standing leader mahathir mohamad. but the two men fell out over the asian financial crisis he was to spend the next six years injail. his conviction was eventually quashed and he built a reformist but rising public anger over

the huge imdb corruption scandal finally helped the reformists to win an election four years ago. and saw mr anwar form an unlikely alliance with his old nemesis, mahathir mohamad, with an arrangement in which the older man would govern first, then hand over to mr anwar. but that deal collapsed and the top job slipped through his fingers once more. now he's got there, but at the toughest of times for malaysia, facing notjust the fragmented political landscape but also an economy struggling to recover from the covid pandemic. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines in the uk. the uk has has seen one of the biggest days of strike action of the year. tens of thousands of workers have taken industrial action in a series of walk—outs affecting schools, universities and royal mail sorting offices.

the strikes are over pay and working conditions. in scotland, the first national strike by teachers in 40 years meant millions of children were off school. the uk's deputy prime minister dominic raab has denied breaking the ministerial code by using his personal email account for government business. he's also repeated his claim that he's behaved professionally at all times after allegations of bullying, which he denies. a report into the death of a five—year—old boy who was killed by his family has called for the welsh government to change how agencies share information about child protection. logan mwangi was murdered by his mother, stepfather and a teenager at his home near bridgend injuly last year. doctors didn't pass on a list of significant injuries the little boy had suffered. the uk's net migration figure has hit a record high.

half a million more people entered the uk than left betweenjune 2021 and this year. it's more than double the number the year before. the rise is driven by people arriving legally from outside the eu while refugees have been arriving from afghanistan and ukraine. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we have a special report from afghanistan — the distressing story of people selling their daughters or drugging their children as they battle to survive the winter. 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 to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." l cu bahas, declarednlnedays, ,, ,,

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. let's turn to iran now. the united nations human rights council has ordered an international probe into the country's crackdown on anti—government protests — which have been led by women. the council was meeting in geneva. here's what the high commisioner for human rights said. the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come to an end. the old methods and the fortress mentality of those who wield power simply don't work. in fact, they only aggravate the situation. we are now in a full—fledged human rights crisis. bbc persian�*s kasra naji is in geneva where that vote took place. here's his assessment. in terms of numbers in favour, it was greater then many human rights activists here and also various delegates of countries here expected.

25 people out of the 46 members of the council, 25 voted for, 16 abstained from voting and six voted against the resolution, and that included iran and china, of course. and just before this vote, russia tried to put a spanner in the works by proposing an amendment that would effectively get rid of the main item, the main point of the resolution, which was to establish an independent commission of inquiry, to look into the killings and human rights abuses in iran. so basically what has happened here is that, against the efforts of china and iran and a few other countries, 25 countries here voted, the majority, to establish

an independent fact—finding mission. to investigate, to collect material to and to collect evidence on those people responsible for shooting people responsible for shooting people in the streets of iran. the bbc has found evidence that people are going to desperate lengths to survive the second winter since the taliban took control of afghanistan, including drugging their hungry children with tablets to sedate them. others have sold their daughters and organs. the afghan economy has collapsed — and the un has described the situation as a catastrophe, with millions on the brink of starvation. just a warning, you may find some of yogita limaye's report from the city of herat distressing. just outside herat live tens of thousands, displaced by years of war and natural disasters.

a second winter since the economy collapsed. in each home, a story of acute hunger. they came to us wanting to be heard. we were shocked by what they said. "our children cry because they go into bed hungry. so we give them tablets to put them to sleep. they'd be better off dead," abdulwahab said. does anyone else also do that same thing? "a lot of us. all of us," they said. gulam hazrat was carrying the tablets with him. they were tranquillisers. others later also showed us antidepressants they give their children. in the market, you can get five tablets for the price of one piece of bread. gulam said said he gives it to his one—year—old.

these men, their dignity broken by hunger. translation: | sold my - five-year-old daughter for $1,200 and sent my teenage son to iran illegally to work. my younger sons collect rubbish every day. "we have nothing. where should we take our children and go?," they asked. four—year—old nazia lives next door. she's been sold to be married to a boy from the southern province of kandahar. her father announced at the local mosque that he wanted to sell her because he couldn't afford to feed his family. at 14, nazia will be sent away.

translation: | used most - of the money to buy food and some for medicine for my son. look at him. he's malnourished and needs treatment. i'd never think of selling my daughter if there was any other option. we didn't have to look hard to find these stories. they were behind every door we walked into. from what we've seen and heard, we know that there is a disaster unfolding on the ground here. hunger is a slow and silent killer, and often its effects aren't immediately visible. but the truth is, we will never know the scale of what is happening here because no—one is counting. people here feel abandoned by everyone, by the government that is currently running this country and by the whole world. this is an emergency. more than half the country needs life—saving support. millions are a step away from famine. yogita limaye, bbc news, herat.

absolutely heartbreaking. in ukraine, at least four people have been killed in russian bombardment in kherson. the capital kyiv is still mostly without power, but some areas are slowly having their electricity restored. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports. the dark cloud of russia's tactics reaches most corners of ukraine. it's felt by everyone. but a path through is often found, as well as a chance to repair. engineers from ukraine's biggest energy company head out to work. today's job — a downed electricity cable caused by a shell. this part of the kherson region used to be the front line. landmines mean they can't work beyond the tape. how much more difficult has yourjob become?

translation: before, work like this was only | necessary after extreme weather like hurricanes. so, one or two incidents. now, it's like we are building the whole cable network from scratch again. this feels like a never ending task under really dangerous conditions. the authorities, in their words, want to give people power and warmth. but the shelling isn't stopping and it's happening right across this region. a typically once—in—a—five—year repair has become a daily ritual. for these rural communities, so too has not having water or power. in this area, it's been eight months. most have long left, but some have stayed the course. we bump into bogdan, who wants to show us where he lives.

as we get inside, he shows us the damage... ..before it gets too much. "maybe i should go to kyiv and ask for help there," he says. "madness," he tells me. do you worry what your future looks like? translation: | just | don't know what to do. i've never cried like this in my life. now i'm an old man. ukraine is a darker place because of russia's targeting of its infrastructure. its resolve hasn't necessarily been weakened, but more people are suffering. james waterhouse,

bbc news, kherson region. you are watching newsday on the bbc. i am monica miller. the portuguese striker cristiano ronaldo has hailed as a "beautiful moment", his feat in becoming the first man to score at five world cups. ronaldo was speaking to reporters after portugal's 3—2 victory over ghana, but he evaded questions about his rift with manchester united. the bbc�*s lucy hockings is in doha. here, she looks back at thursday's world cup matches — and ahead to friday's when england and wales take on the usa and iran. a match that really stood out to me was the one between portugal and ghana today. ghana is the lowest ranked team here at the world cup, and it is fair to say that portugal is probably one of the favourites to progress for sure. we had a really uneventful first half, and then the second

half was full of drama, excitement and definitely goals as well. five goals were scored in the second half, the first coming in the way of a penalty from no other of course than cristiano ronaldo, who became the first man to score at five world cups. he was playing for the first time since his controversial interview about his time at manchester united and of course his subsequent release from the club. i've been speaking tojeremy darlow, the former director of marketing at adidas, about ronaldo's star power and his value. i mean, there is really nobody in his stratosphere, honestly. i think everybody saw that he reached half a billion followers on instagram recently. i mean, who has done that? nobody. the kind of value that he brings as an influencer right now is one—of—a—kind. you know, you think about the next club that he goes to, the next league that he goes to... i'm in the united states,

worth talking about maybe having him here in the mls. imagine bringing 500 million people to your brand. it is an astronomical number that can change the fortunes of not only a club but a business. a national holiday was declared in saudi arabia when they beat argentina, one of the biggest upsets that we have seen in world cup history. the saudi fan park is near to where we are. there have been thousands of saudis who have travelled here with tickets to come and watch the matches. dan also asked the saudi sports minister about whether this was going to affect their bid for the world cup in 2030. the world cup in saudi arabia, how realistic a prospect is that? why not? who wouldn't want to host the world cup? you know, we host a lot of events in the region. any country, i think, in the world would love to host the world cup. and it is an amazing tournament. you know, beautiful competition that you see, surprises sometimes, and it is good for every country to host such an event.

let's look ahead to friday's action, where the hosts qatar are back in action, this time against senegal. also in group d, it is netherlands versus ecuador, wales taking on iran, and england will be hoping to continue their winning form against the usa. the former england international jermainejenas has told me that his hopes and his expectations are high. look, i think england, given how well they performed in that first game, it's hard for the expectations not to be high. i think coming into the tournament, it was a bit doom—and—gloom. their performances failed to deliver, really. but it was free—flowing, it was expansive, it was open, it was goals, it was everything that we know these players can do on a weekly basis because they show us themselves doing it at club level so it was great to see them put it all together. i don't see anything other than an england win against usa. i think they are going to be maybe tough to break down, they are a very fit team with a bit of quality

here and there, but having watched them against wales, they've got a lot of work to do themselves so i really fancy england to go and get a positive result again. many americans have been celebrating thanksgiving. so, let's end with pictures from macy's annual parade in new york city. that event runs for about three hours featuring marching bands, 16 giant balloons, 28 floats, plus a host of musical stars hello. it's already been an exceptionally wet month, some places breaking record. but again, nearly an inch of rain fell in some parts on thursday along with some really gusty winds. aberdaron on the llyn peninsula, nearly 80 mile an hour, those gusts of wind. even in bridlington, 67 miles an hour. the gusts on this particular weather front, which we call a squally weather front, those winds very squally with the rain pushing through. lots of showers, though, have been following on behind to northern and western areas through the night.

still gale force winds here, butjust a little chilly where the winds have eased a little and the shower activity has as we head towards dawn. for the day ahead, it looks drier, brighter, plenty more sunshine than we saw on thursday, but still lots of showers, particularly in the north and west and particularly of scotland, with gales across the northern and western isles, across the highlands as well. still with hail and thunder here and some snow over the hills and mountains, but fewer showers, less heavy elsewhere. 12 to 14, slightly less windy, so feeling more pleasant out and about. but then through saturday night, it turns quite chilly. we could see a touch of frost, a little bit of patchy mist and fog as well. and further north and west, yes, more rain to come as we head into the weekend. now, it looks as if it'll be initially for western and northern areas, with the ridge of high pressure holding on in eastern areas for the start of saturday. so the rain may not arrive here until after dark for east anglia and the south—east. but for most, it'll be cloudier with some hill fog, strong winds again returning, potentially gales in southern and western areas.

heavy rain here as well. these are the gusts of wind, as you can see, through the day on saturday. so another blustery all day, but mild. temperatures about 12 to 14 celsius. rven in the north, ii and 12, so well above where they should be for this time of year. and a mild night will follow because that rain will push steadily eastwards but become slow—moving, potentially, we think, across southern and eastern areas. and that's the question mark, really, for the weekend, how quickly that rain clears away. it could stagnate in the south and east for a time and then showers follow on behind. once again, it will be another relatively mild day. not quite as for saturday, but still 11 to 13 celsius. and we keep a showery picture as we move into the beginning of the new week. but midweek onwards, potentially something a little drier but colder. stay tuned.

this is bbc news. the headlines... china has reported its highest ever daily number of covid infections despite stringent measures designed to eliminate the virus. the latest lockdown measures have been imposed in the city where the world's largest iphone factory is based. the un human rights council has ordered an international probe into iran's violent crackdown of women's rights protests. at least 300 people are thought to have been killed since nationwide

demonstrations started eight weeks ago. much of ukraine including the kyiv region has spent another night without power and water after russia again bombarded its energy infrastructure. kyiv�*s mayor says engineers are working hard to reconnect electricity and water.