this is bbc news, i'm nancy kacungira. our top stories: france book their place in the semifinals of the world cup, beating england by 2—1. next for them are the tournament history—makers. morocco reach the semifinals — the first african country to do so in the tournament's history. the family of paul whelan, an ex—us marine detained in russia, share their disappointment he was left behind in the latest prisoner swap. based on the state department's statements about a substantial offer being made to the russian government that paul would be coming home, and so for that not to happen has obviously been a disappointment. three people have died and around 12 others

are still missing after an explosion that destroyed a block of flats injersey. tens of thousands of opposition supporters in bangladesh rally, calling on the government to step down. hello, campers. rise and shine... and ruth madoc, one of the stars of the hit �*80s tv comedy hi—de—hi!, has died at the age of 79. hello and welcome to bbc news. we start with the world cup, where we now know the semifinal line—up. morocco have become the first african team to reach the last four of the tournament after a 1—0 win over portugal. they'll now play against france, who beat england in the day's other quarter—final. tim allman watched the action.

it is an age—old story. england expects, but usually disappoints. and that seemed as true as ever when france took the lead just after the quarter—hour mark, an absolute scorcher from aurelian putting the world cup holders 1—0 up. but this england are more resolute than some of their predecessors, and early in the second half, sakka won a penalty. up stepped harry kane. this goal levelling the scores and putting the england captain equal in the all—time record for his country. but anything harry can do, olivier can do better. giroud's header making him france's top goalscorer of all time. not long after that, another penalty for england, but this time kane

couldn't convert. misery for the english, france's defence of their title goes on. in the day's other quarter—final, the hopes of a nation and the entire continent rested on the shoulders of morocco. but that pressure didn't seem to show, the moroccans taking the lead towards the end of the first half. portugal almost equalised a few moments later. bruno fernandez�*s strike hitting the crossbar. then in the second half, cristiano ronaldo came on. could he be the hero one more time? no, he could not. morocco making history, ronaldo almost certainly making his last appearance at a world cup. so let's get some reaction, starting with morocco's historic victory. and plenty of celebrations back home. these pictures are from casablanca. there were also joyful scenes with the moroccan expatriate

communities in france and belgium. but the biggest smiles were in qatar, on the faces of fans who were lucky enough to watch the game. our correspondent shaima khalil has been speaking to them. there are many ways to describe the atmosphere here — ecstatic, joyful, shocked, euphoric. but one word that would do justice to morocco's performance and their fans�* presence is historic. this is the first arab and african team to make it to the world cup semifinals. history has been written yet again by morocco's team. the tension was palpable on the pitch and in the stands, with the fans chanting "go ahead" in arabic. in the last minute, they held their breath.

in disbelief. many of them are still trying to find ways to describe at that moment really means for them. we came today morocco and we came this way with my husband. i love my baby. i have a two—month—old baby, and we're so happy in a the moroccan team. all the muslim world, it is history that we are witnessing. i can't really describe it. it's a mixed feeling. we're so happy for the victory and so excited for this coming and hopefully we're going to be getting into the final and what we want now is the cup. we went out here just. to be in the competition, we are here to win. they made us all proud, very proud. we are behind them until the last minute. we ain't going nowhere. we are not going back. portugal! airport, this way!

i want to thank all the arabic countries for their support, i for their standing next to us. even though they don't speak. the same language, they find it a bit difficult, but they're asking us how to say - it and they were sin--in moroccan songs. we were really had with them and we were proud of them and we are proud of our team. it was incredible, incredible, a lot of emotion and we cried, we cried! this is a huge performance in the world cup history. but it is much more than just football. this is a moment of much—needed collective joy across africa and the arab world. for the first time, a team makes it to the semifinals

of the world cup. morocco stays in search of the finals. they have changed their ticket every time morocco one another left to change it again to witness another historic match for their team. let's get the view from paris now, where celebrations have been taking place on the champs elysees and elsewhere including both french and morrocan fans. the french supporters are hopeful their national team can be the first side to retain the world cup since brazil in 1962. our correspondent lucy williamson watched the match there for us. absolute euphoria here, absolute joy. that first goal in the first half, after france scored, i can't describe the atmosphere in the bar. there are many people who saw this as the big match the final before the final, as one man put it. it is one of the quarter—finals, but for many people it felt

like the most significant match, perhaps of the whole tournament. we have yet to find that out, but it was really built up as a match of equals or almost equals in the best side they had faced, with star players on both sides and a lot of respect. a lot of caution amidst the confidence here tonight, but absolute euphoria that france are through and is the reigning champions. for them, it is significant because there is one step closer to that final and one step closer towards taking back the trophy that they won last time. we can go over to tancredi palmeri, a sports commentator who has been monitoring the matches there in doha. we have been seeing the reaction there, but tell us what it was like injoe hart. it started off with that big upsetin it started off with that big upset in england and france. 0k, upset in england and france. ok, if you want to start from that, once again this is the curse of penalties landing on england. and you know, it has

been a long time, almost a century, we can see now, but especially since 1996. this time it has been a bit different, notjust a penalty, not a series of penalties. what hurt the most for the english is that actually england deserved to go through. i know that in football, deserving does not exist, there is only winning and losing. something was missing, it may be, in the lack of experience, but england were very positive, much better than what is the normal outlook of a soccer team. what we consider normal actually is not that normal. i am talking about france being that world champion, getting through to the semi—final. we would say, ok, they are the reigning world 0k, they are the reigning world

champions, it makes sense. it is not like that. it was 2a years since the last time that a reigning world champions were able to get in the last four again. and this side are reigning world champions but they are a brand—new team, which shows how serious they are to bring the trophy back. so that is quite a record therefore france to be able to get this far again. of course, they are hoping they can get all the way to the end, but also a very big night for morocco. they have broken some records here as well. absolutely. let's look at it again, because sometimes we get carried away with the news and we don't put it in context. morocco and the semifinals of the world cup. thisjust morocco and the semifinals of the world cup. this just sounds unreal even to say. it is not only the first arab county to make it, the first african country to get so far, it is also very weird because if we think about africa, it has some

huge stars that were never able to get to that point. george won the ballon d'or, not to mention samuel etoo. it has been a miracle on one side, nothing less, on the other side it makes a lot of sense because they have been very, very clever in the way they played. there is the talent from their fantastic goalkeeper, who was probably the best goalkeeper of the world cup. but it is the cleverness with which morocco has beaten portugal. you would not expect that, because portugal have so many options and they are so experienced, they are at the top of the game in the premier league, in serie a. in the premier league, in serie a, in the bundesliga, in la liga. the big name is the young

morocco manager, who has been the real master of puppets, with this master plan to get there. i don't think that only morocco is the big surprise of this world cup. this is one of the five biggest surprises ever in the history of the world cup. in the history of the world cu -. , in the history of the world cu . _ , ., in the history of the world cu. , . , ., . in the history of the world cu. , ., ,., . ., cup. they have produced an amazin: cup. they have produced an amazing result, _ cup. they have produced an amazing result, as- cup. they have produced an amazing result, as you - cup. they have produced an amazing result, as you say. | cup. they have produced an i amazing result, as you say. on one hand, a miracle, on the other hand, not so much of a surprise considering how well they have strategised. thank you very much forjoining us today, and enjoy the rest of the matches injoe hart. today, and enjoy the rest of the matches in joe hart. thank ou ve the matches in joe hart. thank you very much- _ the matches in joe hart. thank you very much. -- _ the matches in joe hart. thank you very much. -- doha. - let's get some of the day's other news: peru's new president, dina boluarte, has presented her cabinet three days after she replaced pedro castillo, who was ousted following his failed attempt to dissolve congress. former state prosecutor pedro angulo becomes prime minister, one of a number of people considered technocrats rather than partisan politicians. almost half the new cabinet are women. supporters of the ousted president have continued to protest against his removal.

the head of the russian human rights organisation memorial which has beenjointly awarded this year's nobel peace prize, has denounced russia's war in ukraine as insane and criminal at the award ceremony in norway. yan rachinsky�*s organisation was awarded the nobel prize with ukraine's center for civil liberties and a jailed belarusian rights activist, ales bialiatski. environmental activists have marched in the canadian city of montreal, which is hosting a un biodiversity summit. the protesters say they fear the conference is not being ambitious enough with its targets. delegates are considering 2a targets, including curbs on pollution and protecting nearly a third of the world's land and oceans by the end of this decade. the brother of a former us marine imprisoned in russia says his family fears that paul whelan won't be freed

in time to see his ageing parents. the white house is facing backlash from republicans over its deal to return us basketball star brittney griner to the united states. they argue the prisoner swap was a bad deal with russia. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri explains. relief for basketball star brittney griner but to bring her relief for basketball star brittney griner but to bring her home, relief for basketball star brittney griner but to bring her home, the relief for basketball star brittney griner but to bring her home, the white relief for basketball star brittney griner but to bring her home, the white house relief for basketball star brittney griner but to bring her home, the white house gave into some of russia's demands. that included leaving former us marine paul whelan behind. he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2018 on spying charges. prison in 2018 on spying charges-_ prison in 2018 on spying charaes. ., , charges. there have been disappointments - charges. there have been disappointments in - charges. there have been disappointments in the i charges. there have been l disappointments in the past charges. there have been - disappointments in the past and i think this one may have struck us a little bit harder as we had been expecting, based on the state department statements about a substantial ops of the offer be made to the russian government, the poor would be coming home. there's also the matter— would be coming home. there's also the matter of— would be coming home. there's also the matter of victor - also the matter of victor brutt, known as the merchant of

death. the notorious arms dealer was exchanged for brittney griner, a professional athlete —— viktor bout. he told russian media he wished her good luck on the tarmac. republicans argue the swap wanted to make americans in exchange. it's put the white house on the defence.- exchange. it's put the white house on the defence. they were not willing _ house on the defence. they were not willing to. — house on the defence. they were not willing to, and _ house on the defence. they were not willing to, and i _ house on the defence. they were not willing to, and i said - house on the defence. they were not willing to, and i said this - not willing to, and i said this yesterday, to negotiate in good faith for paul whelan and so, it was either nick greiner, one american, or no american. figs american, or no american. as for paul whelan, there is still hope. russia and the united states signalled a rare moment of cooperation amidst the war in ukraine. translation: fire in ukraine. translation: are other in ukraine. translation: fife other exchanges —— are other exchanges possible? yes, everything is possible. these are the negotiation results and the search for compromises. whether it was a good deal or a

bad one, this is the reality of prisoner swaps. joy for some and pain for others. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. three people are known to have died after an explosion flattened a three—storey block of flats on jersey. rescue teams are working under floodlights, searching for people who are still missing. the islands police chief said about 12 people are unaccounted for. police have described the scene as one of utter devastation. a warning — this report from our correspondent robert hall injersey contains footage of the explosion. it sounded like a roll of thunder, according to eyewitnesses, a huge explosion in a residential area overlooking st helier�*s harbour. a security camera on a cafe half a mile away captured the blast and the subsequent fire. emergency services were on the scene within a few minutes. they found one three—storey block of flats virtually demolished, with adjoining buildings on fire or badly damaged.

the explosion had hurled debris and glass over an area several hundred yards across. we heard an explosion about four o'clock this morning — half three, four o'clock. we got up and we found in our flat all the windows had been put in, the staircase had been damaged and there was fire everywhere. every available emergency vehicle was sent to the scene as island authorities declared a major incident and the hospital's emergency department closed to non—urgent cases. it is, as i described this morning, a scene of utter devastation. i mean, the building has completely collapsed. it is... it doesn't even look like a building was. the collapsed building poses huge challenges for a search operation. although gas and water have been cut off, there were still pockets of fire this afternoon and the debris pile remains unstable. the primary challenge is that, one, it is dangerous to operate

in and around the area but secondly, anything that we do or don't do in the wrong way might then jeopardise the chances of survival for somebody who might yet be able to be rescued. meanwhile, dozens of people have been evacuated to st helier�*s town hall and provided with clothing, food and warmth while efforts are under way to rehouse them as temperatures continue to fall. for the people who have, in the run—up to christmas, effectively been told that they cannot be at home, that's clearly going to be an enormous disruption to them but i'm sure will do all we can to make sure they have a good christmas. this is the second tragedy to hitjersey in the past few days — the island is still grieving the loss of three local fishermen following a collision between their vessel and a ferry. a recovery operation at the wreck site is due to begin tomorrow. the cause of last night's explosion is still unconfirmed but police are following up information that fire crews were called to the flats

in the hours before the blast following residents' concerns about a smell of gas. the search for further victims is expected to last several days. robert hall, bbc news, jersey. you are watching bbc news. a reminder of our headlines. morocco make world cup history. they become the first african team to reach the semifinals. next up for them, the reigning champions france on wednesday. the family of paul whelan have expressed their disappointment at his continued detention in russia after the white house agreed a prisoner swap deal to free brittney griner. hundreds of thousands gathered in the bangladeshi capital dhaka for a mass anti—government rally. organised by the opposition party, the protest called for the resignation of the country's prime minister, sheikh hasina. it followed days of violent clashes in the city, where hundreds of opposition supporters were arrested. the government says it respects the right to peaceful protest and has denied claims it's

trying to suppress any form of dissent. our south asia correspondent rajini vaidyanathan has more details. yelling. from across the country, they poured into the capital, dhaka in their thousands. a mass rally organised by the opposition. held on international human rights day. these protesters say they are being denied their own. translation: there is no democracy in bangladesh. | establishing democracy is our main demand. we have been harassed by police at every check postjust to get here. translation: this government wants to control everything - with the help of police. they want to use police to be in power for life.

sheikh hasina. wants to be in power, keeping everyone at gunpoint. in the last few days, things were much more tense. the security forces clashed with opposition supporters, arresting hundreds. he said it is another example of how the government's crushing dissent. they are calling for three and fair elections and for the prime minister to step down. seen here at the cop summit, she's been a key voice on the debate around climate change. in an interview with the bbc in september, sheikh hasina denied claims her government is silencing critics. many people can place allegations but how far it is true, you have to judge. only during a military time you can see free and fair elections. the opposition bangladesh nationalist party says it's planning to hold another mass rally next week. they say they'll keep going until their demands are met. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news.

in the us, kari lake, the defeated republican candidate in the arizona governor's race, is formally challenging democrat katie hobbs�* win. she is asking a court to throw out certified election results from the state's most populous county and either declare her the winner or rerun the governor's election in that county. with the details, here's our north america correspondent david willis. in recent years, arizona has become a crucial swing state. it was a key battleground in last month's midterm elections with some very tight races there. among them, for governor, involving kari lake but there were some issues. there were printing problems at about 70 different polling stations, and that led to long queues for people queueing up to vote, waiting to vote in mind, and kari lake maintain, amongst other things in her 70 page lawsuit, that that led to

a lot of republican voters basically giving up because the lines were so long and going home. she maintains that led to them being effectively disenfranchised and she also claims that hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots were cast in that race for the governorship of arizona. so, she has basically sued. she is calling for the election result either to be scrubbed out, scrubbed away and for her to be appointed the governor of the state of arizona or, indeed, for the election to be rerun. it's worth making the point, i think, kari lake, a very high—profile in these elections, much preferred much feted by donald trump, an election denier, is one of the only high profile candidate in this country that has yet to concede after these midterm elections. that, after the officials found that she had

come 17,000 votes shy of defeating her republican, democrat opponent katie hobbs. david willis. the actress ruth madoc has died, aged 79. she found fame playing gladys pugh in the hit tv comedy hi—de—hi! in the 1980s. it was one of the first bbc shows to capitalise on the merchandise market with products such as board games, albums, books, toys and t—shirts available to buy. lizo mzimba looks back at her life. xylophone jingle. laughter. hello, campers. hi—de-hi! campers: ho-de-ho! the ever cheerful gladys pugh, the chief yellowcoat with a passion for the camp's entertainment manager. yummy—yum—yum. laughter. you're all heart! so sensitive. with so much feeling. it's no surprise to me — i can tell it by the way you use your hands.

laughter. co—starjeffrey holland, who played spike, has fond memories of her. it was a joy to work with someone like her. we had such laughs, you know? i was very lucky to work with that comedy crew, and just — we never stopped laughing from morning till night and i will have those memories of ruth forever. i am a gay! 0h! in later years, she performed a variety of tv roles, including dafydd's mother in little britain. to be honest, love, we did have an inkling. laughter. hello, boys and girls, and welcome to rhyl. the pantomime this year is gonna be brill! and she was a regular pantomime performer. beautiful! but she'll be best remembered as one of maplins' most famous and most—loved stars. well, campers, it's a sad moment, but all the buses and trains are waiting to take you home. may i, on behalf of maplins holiday camp, say we hope you've had a wonderful week

and we look forward again to seeing you next year. goodbye, campers, and hi—de—hi! the actress ruth madoc, who's died at the age of 79. you are watching bbc news. hello. no let—up in this cold spell. we had another very cold day on saturday and for many of us, sunday could be even colder, sharp frost around. this was the picture in derbyshire during saturday afternoon, and i think that frost really extensive to start the day on sunday. now, over the next few days, it is staying cold. further wintry showers in the forecast, icy stretches around and some freezing fog patches, so various winter hazards out there at the moment. as we go through the early hours of sunday morning, then, some icy stretches and wintry showers for parts of northern and eastern scotland, also around some of these irish sea coasts, north west england, wales, the far south—west as well. fog patches further east across england and temperatures first thing to start sunday morning at around

about minus six degrees for many of us, even in the more urban spots. colder than that in some rural spots. so, sunday, then — quite a cold day for the bulk of england and wales. we've got quite a lot of cloud around with the odd snow flurry coming out of this cloud for perhaps the midlands, central southern england. towards the east, we've got some lingering freezing fog for parts of norfolk up towards the vale of york as well. further north, these snow showers tending to ease across parts of scotland but look at those temperatures — most of us between about freezing to plus two degrees. and then, during sunday evening and overnight, our attention turns to the far south—east. now, there is a chance we'll see a low pressure system just pushing in some snowfall potentially to parts of kent and east sussex — essex, suffolk could be at risk — so we are expecting some icy stretches to develop and, again, some freezing fog patches. but sunday night, very cold with a widespread hard frost. temperatures could be as low as minus 12 degrees as we start monday morning, so an icy and very cold early monday commute, i think. again, a lot of low cloud and freezing fog across much

of england and wales. that's going to be quite stubborn to clear. perhaps more sunshine for northern england and scotland. fewer wintry showers than we've seen of late but, again, it is going to feel cold — temperatures generally between around about freezing to perhaps plus three there in belfast. we could just see five degrees for the likes of plymouth. now, heading through into tuesday, and you can see the blue colours still very much on the map, so the cold air still with us. the winds coming in from a northerly direction, another cold plunge of air into the middle part of the week. so, looking at the forecast for the next five days, many places looking dry but expect some freezing fog patches, some icy stretches and temperatures on the cold side, certainly. bye— bye. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri explains.

this is bbc news. the headlines: holders france have booked their place in the semifinals of the world cup, beating england by 2—1. they will face morocco in wednesday's semifinal. they are the first african country to reach the semifinal stages. the brother of a former us marine imprisoned in russia says his family fears that paul whelan won't be freed in time to be see his ageing parents. the white house is facing backlash from republicans over its deal to return us basketball star brittney griner to the united states. tens of thousands have gathered in the bangladeshi capital, dhaka, for a mass anti—government rally calling for a neutral interim governent to be appointed. it followed days of violent clashes in the city where