welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. i'm monica miller. the headlines... france will face argentina in the world cup final, after beating the tournament sensations morocco. four people have died and 43 others have been rescued, after a boat carrying migrants got into difficulties, in the english channel. china has pulled out six officials wanted for police questioning over this violent scuffle in manchester. and the corruption scandal involving alleged bribes of one and a half million euros — that's stunned the european parliament.

live from our studio in singapore — this is bbc news. it's newsday. it's 7am the morning in singapore, and 2am in qatar — where france has shattered morocco�*s hopes of becoming the first african and arab nation to reach the world cup finals. france won 2—0. the defending champions will now meet argentina in the final this sunday. both teams are hoping for their third world cup trophy. let's start our coverage with olly foster in doha. what a final it should be on sunday between the reigning champions, france and lionel messi's, argentina. the french winning 2—0 here in the second of the semi—finals at the el bayt stadium against morocco. the moroccans have been the story of the world cup, but it's the end of the road for them. the french took the lead very early on, theo hernandez,

with a scissor kick from a very tight angle after a killing ——mbappe shot a deflected and fell to him kindly. but morocco were never really out of this match. jawad el yarmouk had an overhead kick that hit the base of a post. france were always in a game here. they knew they couldn't be complacent. they'd seen morocco�*s progress throughout this tournament, finishing top of their group ahead of croatia and belgium, beating spain, beating the portuguese, leaving cristiano ronaldo in tears. so france were on their guard against morocco and it wasn't until late on that they scored their second goal inside the last ten minutes. the substitute with a pretty much his first touch of the game, he benefited from another mazy bit of work from kylian mbappe and it was his deflected shot that fell to him at the far post. randal kolo mounie with his first

international goal, france winning 2—0. even in injury time, morocco pushed for a goal that they really deserved. but this historic march to the finals, the first african nation here, the first arab speaking nation to get this far, that is at an end, although they will have to lift themselves because they have another match to play, the one that no nation wants to play at a world cup, the third, fourth play off. they've got croatia on saturday. and ijust hope for all the tens of thousands of moroccan fans who have made their way to qatar after this incredible run that morocco have had, they hang around and pack out the khalifa international stadium to give morocco a truly great send off. but our attentions really now focuses on sunday as we look to the reigning champions, france, to see if they can make it back to back titles. no team has done that until since brazil back in 58 and 62. or will it be a third title forargentina, france? against argentina?

it should be a brilliant final or as we're going to call it, for the next three days or so, it will be messy against mbappe. hugh schofield is in paris with more on how france's victory went down back home. the french did put their supporters through the wringer a little bit. it was a 2—0 score at the end, which suggests that it was an easy victory, but it's not an easy victory, but it's not an easy victory at all, and for those of us watching, you know, everyone wanted france to win, obviously. there was a long period in the middle where i think their hearts were in their marwood —— mouths as morocco pushed forward again and again and you sensed also that france was losing it. he sensed the french team is losing concentration, and in a way which i hadn't seen before, they suddenly seem very vulnerable. i think it was because they didn't

know what to do whether to defend or attack. they got the one goal, they could sit on it. they decided to sit on it, they didn't push forward on any kind of confidence and not knocking around the ball between defenders lead to mistakes and led to very nearly to the equaliser, of course, it also created opportunities, this moroccan aggression because it meant on the counter attack, aggression because it meant on the counterattack, france aggression because it meant on the counter attack, france could seek another goal and they did. they got her towards the end. up until that moment, it could so easily have shifted to an equaliser and then who knew, who knows what could've happened. so the people was with whether very ecstatic at the end, very relieved, but not exactly inspired with confidence for the match against argentina. china has removed six diplomats from britain after an incident in october, when they were involved in a violent scuffle with pro—democracy protestors outside the country's consulate in manchester. the officials — including the most senior, the consul—general — refused to waive their diplomatic immunity and be questioned by police.

here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. manchester last october, and pro—democracy campaigners from hong kong gather outside of china's consulate. but then some men come out of the gate. they kick down posters, remove others. a violent scuffle ensues. as a senior diplomat looks on, one of the protesters is dragged inside the gates and is attacked. police have to enter the consulate to drag him clear. the foreign office asked for six of these men to have their diplomatic immunity waived so they could be questioned by detectives. instead, china has called them home, including the consul—general, the most senior diplomat, mr zheng xiyuan. the foreign secretary, james cleverly, said

he was disappointed the men would not facejustice but... this demonstrates that our adherence to the rule of law, the seriousness with which we take these incidents, has had an effect. the protester who was attacked told the bbc this solved a complicated diplomatic problem. what happened on 16th of october 2022 was unacceptable and illegal. and the withdrawal of these chinese diplomats gives me a sense of closure. officials here at the foreign office say that china was aware that if the diplomats did not waive their immunity, then they would be declared persona non grata and expelled. instead, china choose to pre—empt either option in a way that avoids further escalation. a chinese embassy spokesman said its staff had been

the victims of the violence and the consul—general had simply completed his term of office. james landale, bbc news. china is facing problems with stockpiling after it relaxed its most severe covid—i9 policies last week. people have been rushing to buy ibu—pro—fen, cold medicines and covid testing kits amid reports of shortages. products for home remedies are now largely unavailable online, including lemons and canned peaches rich in vitamin c. let's now turn to europe — where four people have died after a small boat carrying migrants capsized while crossing the english channel from france in freezing conditions. more than forty people were rescued in a joint operation by air and sea, conducted by the british and french navies and coastguards who were searching in the area circled. over 30 of them were pulled from the water by the crew of a fishing boat — some of the survivors were then airlifted to hospital near the birtish coastal town of dover. the incident comes a day after the british prime minister announced new measures to stop illegal crossings from france. mark easton reports.

the mayday call came around 3am — dark and below freezing, an extraordinary rescue effort to save the lives of dozens of migrants in a sinking dinghy in the middle of the english channel. a fishing boat first on the scene, pulling people from the stricken inflatable. men, women and children screaming for help. rnli lifeboats, the royal navy, french navy and coastguard helicopterjoined the operation. with daybreak, the search for survivors intensified, rescue teams trying to spot anyone in the cold waters of the channel. but within a few hours, it became clear the search was for bodies. and later, one of those who didn't make it was brought ashore at dover. lifeboat crews tried to resuscitate some survivors on the quayside. a helicopter took one adult victim to the william harvey hospital, in ashford, where he later died. another adult also received treatment and is thought to have since been discharged.

450,000 people... in the house of commons, the home secretary reflected the mood of shock at what had happened in uk waters, just off the kent coast. these are the days that we dread. crossing the channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour. it is for this reason, above all, that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers. evil, organised criminals, who treat human beings as cargo. migrants from other dinghies have been brought ashore in dover during the course of the day. almost 16,000 have now crossed this year, despite the risks and the costs. those rescued today said they'd paid people traffickers £5,000 for a place on a flimsy dinghy and the promise of a better life in britain. the sea, flat, calm, when they set off from the french coast in the early hours, but with a two—metre swell in the middle of the channel. how do we stop people making these perilous journeys?

there are opposing strategies. refugee agencies say the answer is to make it easier for asylum seekers to seek refuge in the uk, so they don't have to make the crossings in the first place. the government is intent on making it much more difficult, criminalising and swiftly deporting anyone who arrives by an irregular route. by adopting an approach which is all about punishment and control, it doesn't stop the crossings. we need an approach which is about compassion above control, and which recognises the reasons people have to flee. the owner of the fishing vessel which first arrived on the scene spoke of his pride at the crew's actions. horrific incident but, you know, our guys there, we're proud that they did a cracking job, you know, rescuing 31 of those guys, yeah. it's just over a year since 27 people lost their lives in the channel, a tragedy that

prompted both uk and french governments to say they were stepping up efforts to defeat the people smugglers. but since then, the criminal gangs have expanded their operations, while the desperation of those who would buy their services appears undiminished. let's take a look at some of the other stories in the headlines in the uk. why korean women fear they will lose their hard gains on gender equality. saddam hussein is finished, because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes but they brought a formal end to three and a half years of conflict, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia,

serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border- was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off - from the outside world to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. - on trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair means bill clinton is guaranteed a place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm monica miller in singapore. our headlines...

prosecutors —— three men have appeared in a belgian court accused of being involved in an alleged corruption scandal, which has rocked the european parliament. which has rocked the prosecutors say they've found more than one and a half million euros in cash stashed in various properties, which had been given as bribes — allegedly by qatar. they deny any wrongdoing. a member of the parliament has also been charged, but has had her hearing postponed. our europe editor katya adler reports. cases full of cash seized by belgian police linked to key figures in or close to the european parliament. prompting hair raising questions about trust and whether eu influence can be bought. translation: the investigation | concerns the suspected corruption of european parliamentarians by a gulf nation. the purpose of the bribery was to favour this country in the financial and political decisions of the european parliament. the scope of the investigation is spreading, so what

do we know so far? this vice president of the european parliament, formerly a glamorous tv presenter in greece, here with qatar's minister of labour, is making the most headlines. this is her last month, praising qatar's record on migrant workers' rights... qatar is a frontrunner in labour rights, abolishing kafala and introducing minimum wage. ..just as her fellow meps passed a resolution deploring them. she is accused of taking bribes to try to influence votes here in qatar's favour. qatar denies involvement but this scandal shines an uncomfortable spotlight on the world cup host. ..2022 fifa world cup is qatar! a reminder of the multiple allegations of corruption surrounding its successful bid, though no concrete evidence came to light. back in brussels, how were the suspects there caught, according to police? it sounds like something out of a scandal—filled crime novel. on friday, belgian police stopped the father of the vice president

of the european parliament trying to leave this brussels hotel with a suitcase crammed full of cash. his daughter protests her innocence but whatever happens in this case, it is going to have far—reaching implications on how decisions are made at the parliament, just down there, and on the tens of thousands of lobbyists who work here in brussels trying to influence those decisions. there are too many loopholes and we think there are several countries that engage in these kind of practices, of basically buying the support of meps and it looks like qatar, if it is qatar, may have got a bit overconfident in their approach to this. the sums involved are so huge that this was inevitably going to leak out. the vote is closed. a shocked and shamed european parliament voted overwhelmingly yesterday to strip its vice president of her title. the eu's reputation is at stake here, said the bloc�*s leaders, in brussels today

for a planned summit. in the current energy crisis, they look to gas rich qatar to help them. katya adler, bbc news, brussels. top—tier presenter spending a second night in hospital after he was hurt while filming the bbc show. it happened at the test track in surrey. his injuries are not thought to be life—threatening. the bbc has had all health and safety procedures were followed on site. it's understood that the accident did not happen at high speeds. now i look at other stories making headlines. peru has declared a state of emergency for the next 30 days. the country's main roads and airports are blocked as people take to the streets. he was impeached and

detained for corruption following his attempt to dissolve peru's congress. prosecutors are trying to put them in jail for 18 congress. prosecutors are trying to put them injailfor 18 months. russia has launched a new wave of air strikes targeting the capital kyiv. ukrainian officials say their air defence shot down 13 drones, but they had to residential buildings and a government office. russia has repeatedly targeted ukraine's power network since october using missiles and drones. president biden led to mark the tenth anniversary of anniversary of one of the worst school shootings in american history. mr biden said the nation should have social guilt for failing to take more action to address —— address violence ——more action to address gun violence since the killings at sandy hook elementary school in connecticut. 26 people were killed —

twenty were young children. yan bing—towe has become the latest chinese player to be suspended from the world snooker tour as part of an on going investigation into match fixing. he's the highest profile player to become embroiled in the investigation and his suspension comes just days five other chinese players were also suspended. for more on this, we can speak now to snooker commentator elliott west. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. what was your initial reaction to hearing the news of the accusations? shock, really. ithink shock, really. i think the biggest shock, obviously a top 16 player and we don't know what has happened regarding this individual case, but it is worrying. if you look at the history of snicker, there is a number of players over the years that have been involved in match fixing, some of them have got fines, some of them have been suspended

from the game, and obviously, this is bad for snicker, we don't want anything like this and we want it cleared up as soon as possible. china is a massive market for the game, a lot of revenues, sponsorships come from this. how bad is this news for the game internationally. fist is this news for the game internationally.— is this news for the game internationall . �* ., ., , ., internationally. at that trouble at the moment _ internationally. at that trouble at the moment is _ internationally. at that trouble at the moment is that _ internationally. at that trouble at the moment is that covid - the moment is that covid restrictions still exist in china, so there was five major tournaments prior to covid that where played in china and still to this day, we haven't been able to place snicker in china because of the restrictions. obviously, a lot of chinese players are over here now because they are in academies, etc, they play the name to her anyway, so

snicker in general is good place. if you look at snicker, it's probably the only sports, one of the only sports that survives during covid. i lots of been played out in the marshall arena and milton keynes, and they've done very well and they were able to survive with bubbles, but the players. it was really good i mean, snicker stale... but the players. it was really good i mean, snickerstale... fin but the players. it was really good i mean, snicker stale...— but the players. it was really good i mean, snicker stale... on the few seconds left. _ i mean, snicker stale... on the few seconds left. i _ i mean, snicker stale... on the few seconds left, i do _ i mean, snicker stale... on the few seconds left, i do want to - seconds left, i do want to discuss something you've written about claiming that the brain where they could live with that people looking after these players. explain exactly what you mean. when these chinese players come over and they are looked after by people within these

academies, they are susceptible, they don't speak english, they spend a lot of their time practising, etc, and they don't see the outside world. so what i'm suggesting is that people could approach them and say they are friends. find that people could approach them and say they are friends.— say they are friends. and they could mani - ulate say they are friends. and they could manipulate them, _ say they are friends. and they could manipulate them, so... _ say they are friends. and they could manipulate them, so... i'm - say they are friends. and they could manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, l say they are friends. and they could i manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are auoin manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are going to — manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are going to have _ manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are going to have to _ manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are going to have to leave _ manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are going to have to leave it - manipulate them, so... i'm sorry, we are going to have to leave it there. i are going to have to leave it there. thank you very much can they really wanted to hear what you had to say on that. . �* , . wanted to hear what you had to say on that. . �*, . ., �*, on that. that's all right, that's ok. i on that. that's all right, that's 0k- i thank — on that. that's all right, that's ok. i thank you _ on that. that's all right, that's ok. i thank you very _ on that. that's all right, that's ok. i thank you very much - on that. that's all right, that's ok. i thank you very much for| on that. that's all right, that's - ok. i thank you very much for coming up on the programme. south korea has had a dire record when it comes to women's rights. it has the worst gender pay gap and any country and men dominate the boardrooms and politics, but rather than promising to tackle the issue, south korea's new president wants to close the ministry, leaving women fearing

——leaving women fearing they could be about to lose their hard—fought gains. our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie has sent this report — there are details some viewers may find distressing relating to sexual assault and suicide. the new president here has ——many women in south korea are angry. the new president here has claimed structural sexism is a thing of the past. but you need only scratch the surface to reveal shocking discrimination. when eunice started herjob as a clerk at a major bank, she was told to make the lunch and wash the hand towels in the men's bathroom. they said, this fell to me as the newest female member of staff. i said, wouldn't it be better for the men to wash the towels in their bathroom? but my boss said, "how can you tell men to wash towels?" i politely said no, but my boss got very angry and started to torment me.

south korea has the worst gender pay gap of all wealthy nations. but rather than promise to fix this, the president has courted young men who feel they're being disadvantaged by recent attempts to improve women's lives. "abolish the gender equality ministry", they shout here. the ministry supports women and those who've been sexually assaulted. and the president has agreed to close it. anna was raped by her professor at college. she credits the gender equality ministry with saving her life. translation: i went to a hospital, which was supposed to support victims of crime. the doctor there heard my case and said i was delusional. it was heartbreaking.

five months later, i tried to kill myself. the gender equality ministry stepped in. it found her a place in a shelter and supported her to pursue a successful prosecution. anna is now fighting along with more than 800 organisations to save the ministry. you have been watching newsday. a reminder of our top story... france has reached the final of the football world cup, shattering morocco's hopes of becoming the first african team to lift the trophy. that is it now. stay with bbc world news. i am monica miller. thanks for watching.

hello. this long spell of cold weather is not ending just yet. for the time being, we are still stuck in a deep freeze. this cold air that has been brought down from the north. but there are signs of a change in the outlook through the weekend and into the start of next week. a south—westerly wind starts to develop and that will bring something significantly milder. by monday, the southwest of england could see highs of 16 degrees. with that there will be some wind and rain at times. in the short term we stick with the cold and frosty feel to the weather. some icy stretches to start thursday morning and a day of sunshine and wintry showers awaits. the icy stretches are where we have had the showers over recent hours.

parts of northern ireland, the east coast of england and most especially the north of scotland. and here we will see frequent wintry showers of sleet and snow continuing through the day. some further accumulation of snow. some showers for northern ireland, briefly for west wales and also for the east coast of england. again, those would have a wintry flavor. some of those showers will fall as snow. but for many other places it is going to be a dry day. with plenty of sunshine not helping the temperatures much though. one to 5 degrees at best. through thursday nights, once against those temperatures will drop like a stone. there'll be further wintery showers, some further icy stretches and widely we are looking at lows of “4 or —5degrees. some places will get colder than that. so, fog is likely to affect some southeastern parts of england through the first part of friday. the other feature of friday's weather is this weather system. which is likely to bring a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. across central parts of scotland. that could cause some disruption.

it could certainly give rise to some ice. it's another cold day but maybe not quite as cold. that is a sign of things to come. because by saturday, we start to shift the wind direction. we start to pick up these south—westerly winds. still some showers around, especially in the west and northwest. some of those will still be wintry to stop those temperatures some of those will still be wintry. but those temperatures beginning to creep up. but as we get into sunday we see this big change. this frontal system driving its way from the southwest. that will bring heavy rain, strong winds and perhaps some snow for a time. but behind that, things will turn much milder.

(oov)defending champions france have made it into the world cup final against argentina, it's after a 2—0 win in the semis that saw an end to morocco's remarkable run. a greek mep remains in custody in belgium accused of taking more than a hundred thousand dollars worth of bribes from qatar. eva kaili's lawyer says, the charges are based on false rumours. a three—day period of national mourning has been declared in the democratic republic of congo. more than 130 people have died in flooding and landslides — in the capital kinshasa. russia has carried out air strikes on cities across ukraine. a government building in kherson was damaged.

the capital kyiv was also targeted bgy drones — most were intercepted.