he welcome to bbc news. he our top stories. mounting pressure on iran as the un human rights council votes for an international investigation into the violent suppression of protests in the country. daily covid infections in china hit a record high, despite crippling restrictions and snap lockdowns. elon musk says suspended twitter accounts will be allowed back on as long as they haven't broken laws or or been involved in spam activities. portugal's cristiano ronaldo becomes the first man to score at five world cups as friday's matches see england taking on the usa and wales face iran.

investigation into iran's violent crackdown on protesters. the vote approving the fact finding mission was passed by 25 to 6, with 16 member states abstaining. the un says more than 300 people have been killed and thousands arrested since protests began. the bbc�*s az—a—day moshiri reports. many of the's streets look like a war zone. it's people are carrying battle wounds. it's people are carrying battle wounds. children are being killed. like this nine—year—old. shot dead by security forces.

words have now become a cry amongst iranians. united nations human rights council said the situation in iran is now critical. the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come to an end. and 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. its members have approved an international fact—finding mission to investigate the crackdown — it is committed to protecting human rights. it took months of pressure on world leaders to get here.

the killing of children, that is something that has really upset us. the killing of children and we are here for all the people they have been killing for 43 years. this investigation could help catalogue abuses by security forces. evidence could then be used in international courts to hold the government accountable. students are still demanding the release of their classmates. families are baking officials for the bodies of the dead. the regime is taking desperate measures. the people of iran are still risking their lives ever since the death of a 22—year—old in police custody. protesters are banking on world powers supporting them. let's get some of the day's other news. staff at universities have staged the first of a two—day walkout in support

of their claim for better pay and conditions. employers say they've not been able to increase their fees to students for many years, and cannot afford large pay increases. thousands of teachers have joined rallies in scottish cities as part of the country's first national schools strike in over a decade. almost every state primary and secondary school in the country was closed. unions have rejected an increased pay offer, and are asking for a 10% increase. and — nurses in parts of the uk have become the latest group to announce strike action. the first ever walkouts by members of the royal college of nursing will take place on the 15th and 20th of december. the union says it is taking action after its offer of talks was rejected. ukraine has said that as much as 50% of the country's electricity needs are currently not being met, after massive russian missile strikes this week. the ukren—ergo power operator said the priority was to fix key infrastructure but repairs were now taking more time. president volodymyr zelensky said "the most difficult situation" with power as well as water supply was in 15 regions, including the capital kyiv.

president zelensky keeps calling for the world's help in his nightly addresses to the people in ukraine. and now, his wife, the first lady, 0lena zelenska is also taking on an increasingly public role. for the bbc�*s 100 women series, our chief international correspondent lyse doucet travelled to kyiv to speak with 0lena zelenska. president and first lady. war ripped their lives apart but brought their work closer together. as this war grinds on, lives lost, cold winter closing in, with blackouts provoked by aggression strikes, 0lena zelenska is speaking out for ukraine. translation: we've had so many

challenges during these months, l such trying challenges, so many victims, so much destruction that, if i'm honest with you, blackout is not the worst thing that can happen to us. recently, an opinion poll was published. ukrainians were asked, how much longer can they endure in these conditions? the majority of ukrainians, over 90%, said that they are prepared to endure this for two to three more years if they can see the prospect of our membership in the eu. two to three more years? translation: at times, it is extremely hard, - but then we find new emotions which help us to keep going. so you work here and he works there? they both work in this heavily guarded compound in kyiv. but he now has to live where

he works — separate from her and their two children. when he first ran for president in 2019, she told him it was a life she didn't want. he won by a landslide with her support. the high school sweethearts filmed this on valentine's day, just ten days before russia invaded and everything changed. he can't travel, so she does. brussels, the eu parliament — a standing ovation for a woman who once said public speaking scared her. washington, the us congress — the first foreign first lady to address this house, even more to ask for weapons. you crossed the line into politics. translation: that was not politics. - that was something i had to say. i was asking for weapons, not for an attack. i was asking for weapons

to rescue us, so that our children would not be killed in their homes. now she calls other first ladies her colleagues. the us�*s, drjill biden, came to see her, both focused on education, children, families torn apart. ukraine's mourners in chief, public faces of its pain and prayer. translation: for all- ukrainians, peace equates to victory, because we all understand that without victory, there will not be peace in our country. for now, they know peace isn't in sight, just a long cold winter of little light. lyse doucet, bbc news, kyiv.

china has reported its highest ever daily number of covid infections despite stringent measures designed to eliminate the virus. nearly 33,000 cases were recorded on thursday. that compares with just over 31,000 cases on wednesday. almost three years into the pandemic, china's zero— covid policy is still in place. snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions are continuing to cause disruption to daily life and the economy. i'm joined now by professor yang—jon huang, senior fellow for global health at the council on foreign relations. thanks very much forjoining us. i'm trying to work out why china are struggling so much. does this come down, really, to a lack of vaccination levels

among the most vulnerable? is that the bottom line here? well, i think certainly the vaccines, especially the relatively low vaccination rate among the elderly plays a role especially when we consider the effectiveness of their vaccines and the immunity gap between china and the rest of the world that opens doors for the virus to easily infect more chinese people. in the meantime, there is zero covid, the population... created just a vulnerable population. yeah, is that zero covid _ vulnerable population. yeah, is that zero covid policy _ vulnerable population. yeah, is that zero covid policy is - vulnerable population. yeah, is that zero covid policy is still- that zero covid policy is still a of honour, do you think, amongst many chinese? is that how they perceive it? it depends. think have some

supporting zero covid but we also have a lot of people oppose it and their people now in the new policy measures it wants to optimise zero covid but for those people who support zero covid, especially those aged over 6080 and above, they family members remain supportive of the policy and are very concerned about this new invasions. figs are very concerned about this new invasions.— are very concerned about this new invasions. as we have seen the mega _ new invasions. as we have seen the mega city — new invasions. as we have seen the mega city after— new invasions. as we have seen the mega city after mega - new invasions. as we have seen the mega city after mega city, l the mega city after mega city, the mega city after mega city, the cost is huge, isn't it? and thatis the cost is huge, isn't it? and that is beginning to, it is having a real drag on the national economic performance. absolutely. that is the problem. we released new policy

measures intended to soften the policies but had the unintended resolve of century, making the strain of the virus easy so we are seeing this dramatic increase of the cases making it even more difficult to contain the spread but in the meantime, the spread but in the meantime, the cost of the disruption is becoming equally bigger problem. it becoming equally bigger problem-— problem. it feels like a vicious _ problem. it feels like a vicious circle _ problem. it feels like a vicious circle at - problem. it feels like a vicious circle at the - problem. it feels like a - vicious circle at the moment. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. thank you for being with us. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: elon musk is going to let previously suspended accounts return to twitter —we'll ask what that might mean. 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 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, our main headlines. welcome back to bbc news. elon musk says he will reinstate accounts on twitter which had previously been suspended. it follows a vote which he organised — asking if there should be a general amnesty for blocked accounts, as long as they had not broken the law or been involved in spam activities. and here's the tweet he posted with the result. in his words — it will �*unlock the doors to the twitterjail' — but some critics have raised concerns about giving a platform to people accused of being extremists imran ahmed is chief executive of campaign group the center for countering digital hate and hejoins me now: ican i can only imagine that you have considerable concerns as to what this might lead to. well, i do, to what this might lead to. well, ido, but to what this might lead to. well, i do, but as to so many other people including advocacy

groups for black communities, forjewish communities, for muslims, the public health profession who are worried about people like anti—vax is to suppress bad disinformation in order to make profit for themselves and also most heartbreakingly, human rights communities all over the world including in repressive states where they know that by letting back on dangerous people who spread hate and disinformation it may put their lives at risk. the whole sort of twitter project has been thrown in the air over the past few weeks and months. what is your, i suppose, your prognosis for where this is going to take to twitter? i where this is going to take to twitter? ~ , twitter? i think twitter is already seeing _ twitter? i think twitter is already seeing an - twitter? i think twitter is already seeing an exodus advertisers in part because of advertisers in part because of a coalition of charities saying that they want to change and they want advertisers to make sure that the platform is held

to its normal community standards but i think you're also going to see legislators around the world because this is that classic sort of, you know, that dilemma, what happens if a mad or bad person takes over nation state and democracy, a major platform that has democratic impact around the world and actually, i think they're being put to the test right now. in fact, the test right now. in fact, the eu has already passed that test to an extent. today, twitter�*s head of policy had to bend the knee to the eu chief on digital homes and say we will abide by your laws. the uk could have laws but it has been up could have laws but it has been up because of problems this summer with the government. and voicing legislation being introduced. i think this may be the beginning of the end of this era of unregulated social media. a, , i. this era of unregulated social media. , ., media. may be you are right ma be media. may be you are right maybe you _ media. may be you are right maybe you are _ media. may be you are right maybe you are not. - media. may be you are right maybe you are not. one - media. may be you are right maybe you are not. one of. media. may be you are right i maybe you are not. one of the problems was this was an open vote on twitter and the general

support was for allowing these people back on. i support was for allowing these people back on.— support was for allowing these people back on. i mean, twitter ulls are people back on. i mean, twitter pulls are not — people back on. i mean, twitter pulls are not scientific. - people back on. i mean, twitter pulls are not scientific. there i pulls are not scientific. there are very easily manipulated and less than of the user take part in the poll so if this was a poll of the democracy were 1% of the electorate take part in you would think, crumbs, we are in real trouble here. this is not representative of the overall populace and twitter pulls are particularly prone to manipulation by organised groups, by the russian state which we know as an interest in having a limit strolls back onto the platform so who knows who those people are and we all know that elon musk already had made his mind up a long time ago. already signal what is going to do. he's like donald trump back on but he has let on a number of hate actors in previous weeks. this isjust sort of an ongoing, well, midlife crisis from mr musk and the end of twitter for twitter. that's quite a statement. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed.

now to south africa — where there has been an alarming increase in the number of deadly attacks by pitbull dogs. children are often the victims — and some have lost their lives. it's led to calls for the breed to be banned across the country — as vumani m'khize reports. he wasjust he was just three years old. he was viciously attacked by two pit bulls while playing with friends in the neighbour's yard. his family is still traumatised by what they saw. had some are not pulled him away, the dogs would have finished him. they beat him so bad, you can't even see a space properly. 0n the one side, you can't see his face. figs properly. on the one side, you can't see his face.— can't see his face. as i am told, can't see his face. as i am told. the _ can't see his face. as i am told, the dogs _ can't see his face. as i am told, the dogs stayed - can't see his face. as i am told, the dogs stayed in l can't see his face. as i am i told, the dogs stayed in their cage and they caught the child and they were able to drag child to this particular area where frantic members of the community tried to, in some way, celebrate the dogs from the child. and unfortunately,

they were unsuccessful in doing so while the child was still alive. as you can see over here, community members are quite angry. tensions are running very, very high at the moment. people here want the owner of the dog to be accountable for what they did. many other owners around the country had voluntarily surrendered their pit bulls to the spca. surrendered their pit bulls to the spca-— the spca. were sent every sinale the spca. were sent every single animal— the spca. were sent every single animal surrendered | the spca. were sent every l single animal surrendered to us. euthanasia is a reality. 0ver us. euthanasia is a reality. over and above this we do not we have an aggressive and dangerous animals. device and it bull dangerous animals. device and pit bull attacks _ dangerous animals. device and pit bull attacks as _ dangerous animals. device and pit bull attacks as prompted i dangerous animals. device and pit bull attacks as prompted al pit bull attacks as prompted a petition calling for a complete ban. the pit bull federation is against banning the breed. buying the bead will mean that people — buying the bead will mean that people in south africa i want feel safe _ people in south africa i want feel safe will move from this to another breed and so we will see may— to another breed and so we will see may be a drop—in pit bull mullings _ see may be a drop—in pit bull mullings but then we'll see an increase — mullings but then we'll see an increase and save a rottweiler or german shepherd mullings. 89 or german shepherd mullings. countries or german shepherd mullings. 33

countries around the world have banned or have some restrictions against pit bulls and of attacks against children continue, anti—pitbull campaigners are confident south will be the latest country to be on the list. let's get up to date with the world cup now — and the first round of group stage matches have been completed — with all 32 nations now having tasted some competitive action. switzerland beat cameroon by a goal to nil. and in the other game in group g, brazil were 2—0 winners over serbia. uruguay and south korea played out a goalless draw. but perhaps the most closely watched game featured portugal — who beat ghana 3—2 — because of the presence of cristiano ronaldo. you may recall howjust two days ago he was in the headlines for a mutually agreed departure from manchester united — after that interview where he criticised the club's owners and current manager. well, even as a player without a club, he made

his mark for portugal — opening the scoring in his country's win. but that goal also had some historic overtones in the men's game — here they are:|t made ronaldo the first player to score in five world cup final tournaments. it also made him the only player to be both the youngest and oldest scorer for his country at a world cup finals. and it extended his lead as the highest scorer in the international men's game — with 118 goals — that's 9 more than his closest rival — with power to add more. as ever on newsday — we love to show you the fans — so just take a look at these brazilians in qatar. and this was before the game — presumably their team's victory only increased the level of excitement.let�*s put all the day's events and action into context now — from doha, here's lucy hockings.

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. all 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 here are the matches. the host qatar against senegal. both sides looking for the first points. the netherlands will be taking on ecuador. there is the top two in that group. group b, england play the usa. are they when they will be guaranteed a

place in the knockout rounds. as far away as they up against iran. a lot more on the website. if you just go on to the home page and click through to the world cup section. well, before we go, the us has of course been celebrating thanksgiving — and as ever, one of the highlights has been the macy's parade in new york. things were kicked off with a bit of a seasonal sing—along. who else but mariah carey, performing all i want for christmas is you. as ever, the balloons took centre stage in manhattan. this is snoopy, dressed to go into space — though his handlers kept a tight grip on the strings to prevent that... stuart the minion made an appearance — apparently chasing some of his favourite snack, bananas — or at least, a few performers dressed up

as the yellow fruit. 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 1a, 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 1a 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. the headlines... the united nations has ordered an international probe into iran's suppression of women's rights protests. it said iran was facing a fully— fledged human rights crisis. 300 people are thought to have been killed in the crackdown. the protests began more than 8 weeks ago. ukraine's first lady 0lena zelenskay tells the bbc that her country was ready to endure major rolling power cuts from russian missile attacks. speaking to the bbc as part of the bbc�*s 100 women series, 0lena zelenska says ukrainians believe the only way to achieve peace was to win the war. nurses in parts of the uk are the latest to announce strike action. their union announced its first ever walk out on december 15 th and 20th in england,

wales and northern ireland. scotland is pausing action after the government now on bbc news — panorama. tonight on panorama: the struggle to afford a home. if you have to sell it, you have to sell it. that is tough, isn't it? yes, it is. it has been quite hard. rising mortgage rates and rents are hitting homeowners and tenants hard. there was noise - coming from the hole. that's when i got my. phone out and i started to record. wow! millions are trapped in miserable conditions. i could put arm to arm to the walls, you know. that's how small it is.