the first lady tells the bbc her country will battle on. translation: at times, it is extremely hard, - but then we find new emotions which help us to keep going. we look back at thursday's world cup matches and ahead to friday's, as england take on usa and wales faces iran. 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 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 job during the pandemic. - 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. well, for more on that, we earlier spoke to benjamin cowling, professor and chair of epidemiology at hong kong university. i asked him why he thought the cases are so high in china. the latest omicron subvariants are more transmissible than ever before, and i think that the measures that are being used in china are struggling to stop transmission when it happens so quickly and with such intensity, with ba5 and the latest omicron subvariants more recent than ba5. one of the reasons the chinese government says that they are keeping with this 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's a number of 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 government continuously reassures people that there won't be a large epidemic of covid in different cities in different parts of the country, then what's the incentive for older people to get vaccinated? because they are not expected to get covid if they trust the government to protect them against getting covid. so i think clear messaging, like 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, i think that kind of clear messaging would make a difference in terms of reducing hesitancy in older adults. and not only that, but i think some older adults in china have got three doses. about half have got two doses. quite a number of older

people who got vaccinated had their most recentjab more than six months ago, and so actually there's a need to continue the booster programme and even start giving fourth doses as well, as well as increasing the uptake of first and second doses. and in the past few minutes, beijing has reported 424 new local symptomatic coronavirus cases and 1,436 asymptomatic cases for thursday. malaysia's constitutional monarch king abdullah has announced that anwar ibrahim will be the country's next prime minister. the decision follows five days of intense negotiations over possible political coalitions. for mr anwar, who's one of asia's best—known public figures, it caps a remarkable politicaljourney. our south east asia correspondentjonathan head has the details. 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 and mr anwar was arrested and charged with sodomy and corruption. he was to spend the next six years injail. his conviction was eventually quashed and he built a reformist political movement that, ten years ago, came close to toppling umno from its long monopoly on power. then mr anwar was jailed again. 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. the united nations human rights council in geneva has ordered an international probe into iran's violent crackdown on womens�* rights protests. at least 300 people are thought to have been killed since nationwide demonstrations started eight weeks ago. the high commisioner for human rights has demanded an immediate end to the violence. 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. germany is one of the countries calling for greater scrutiny of iran. this is what their foreign minister, annalena baerbock, had to say.

on many occasions, we have called upon iran to respect these rights, to stop the violent crackdown on protesters, the bloodshed, the arbitrary killing, the mass arrests, the death penalties. the only answer we received was more violence, more death, along with iran's continuing refusal to give the united nations special rapporteur access to the country. this was the response from iran's deputy vice president for women and family affairs. the islamic republicl of iran deeply regrets that the human rights council is abused once again by some | arrogant states to antagonizel a sovereign un member state that is fully committed - to its obligation to promote and protect the human rights. reducing the common cause of human rights to a tool - for political purposes of a specific group i of western countries - is appalling and disgraceful.

kasra naji from the bbc persian service is in geneva, where the vote took place. 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, i6 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 collect evidence on those people responsible for shooting people on the streets of iran. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: portuguese striker cristiano ronaldo becomes the first man to score at five world cups.

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 newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. 0ur headlines: daily covid infections in china have hit a record high, despite crippling restrictions and snap lockdowns. the return of anwar ibrahim — malaysia's king has installed the veteran politician to form a new government. as russia's war in ukraine drags on and winter approaches, president zelensky has repeatedly called for the world's help in his nightly address. now, the first lady 0lena zelenska is taking on a more public role. for the bbc�*s 100 women series, the bbc�*s chief international correspondent lyse doucet travelled to kyiv to speak

with 0lena zelenska — and she began by asking how ukrainians will cope with the added pressure of power blackouts.

two to three more years? everyone's life you has been turned upside down. when was the last time you, your husband, the president, your 18—year—old daughter, nine—year—old son, sat down and had dinner together? when you speak in public, and you often do, you say you speak as a daughter, a mother, a

woman, a first lady, and yet you once said, i prefer to remain backstage. and now, the first lady of ukraine is on a global stage. first lady of ukraine is on a globalstage. how first lady of ukraine is on a global stage. how hard was it to take on a roll you did not want? do you and the president sometimes disagree on what role you should play?

like what? like what? the us congress injuly? are you worried about the giving away of some of ukrainian land?

the full interview with ukraine's first lady 0lena zelenska and bbc chief international correspondent lyse doucet is available on iplayer in the uk and will run on bbc world news this weekend. bbc 100 women, our annual season of influential and inspiring women, launches on tuesday 6th december. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. twitter�*s new owner elon musk has just announced an amnesty for many

banned twitter accounts, after carrying out a poll on the platform. more than 3.1 million twitter users took part in the poll and 72% voted in favour of the amnesty. the twitter account of former us president donald trump was reinstated last week after a similar poll. the lower house of the russian parliament has unanimously passed a law banning all material the authorities deem to be lgbtq propaganda. the ban broadens previous legislation aimed at children. the uk has seen one of the biggest days of strike action of the year by tens of thousands of workers angry about their pay and conditions. workers at schools, universities and at the royal mail said they felt they had no choice but to take action. and nurses have become the latest group with announcing they will strike two days next month. net migration to britain

reached a record ofjust over half a million in the year tojune, despite government pledges to reduce numbers. 1.1 million people came to britain, mostly from outside the eu. more than half a million left. the portuguese striker cristiano ronaldo has hailed his feat in becoming the first man to score at five world cups as a "beautiful moment". after portugal's 3—2 victory over ghana, ronaldo told reporters that he felt very proud of his record but evaded questions about his rift with manchester united. lucy hockings has sent us this report from doha. 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 to jeremy 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 right near 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 internationaljermaine jenas 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. that was the former england playerjermainejenas giving his thoughts on friday's fixtures. let's take a look at them in full — the hosts qatar are taking to the pitch again. they play senegal, with both sides looking for theirfirst points. in the other group a match, the netherlands take on ecuador. in group b, england take on the usa, knowing that a win will guarantee their place in the knock—out rounds. and wales face iran. as always, much more on our website — just log on to bbc.com/news and click through to the world cup section orjust go via the bbc app. and finally — in the uk, camilla, the queen consort has been to a barnardo's nursery in east london to deliver more than 1,000 paddington bears. the soft toys were left outside royal residences by members of the public

after the death of the queen. they're now being donated to barnado's for their children's services. the queen consort was joined by some of the children supported by the charity for what's been called a "teddy bear�*s picnic." that's it for us here on newsday. i am monica miller. 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 old day, but mild. temperatures about 12 to 14 celsius. even in the north, 11 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. this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories and all the main news stories the ethiopian government for you at the top of the hour for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk. straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. i'm stephen sackur. one of the most one of the most costly conflicts of costly conflicts of the 21st century the 21st century

may be over. may be over. representatives of representatives of the ethiopian government and tigrayan rebels signed a peace agreement earlier this month. after two years of war and perhaps half a million civilian deaths, tigrayan forces are to give up their weapons.