welcome to bbc news. lam mark i am mark lobel. our top stories: allez les bleus. after a thrilling encounter, france reaches the world cup final where the defending champions will take on argentina for a showpiece spectacle on sunday. translation: i was getting to the first goal in the first half was a bit tense with free kicks. ~ ,, �* kicks. translation: ??forcedblue - kicks. translation: ? ?forcedblue two i kicks. translation: i nroncsosws two and kicks. translation: - nroncsostus two and twice kicks. translation: _ ??forcedblue two and twice in a 7 ?forcedblue two and twice in a row. didier 7 7forcedblue two and twice in a row. didier deschamps becomes a legend. the dream finish is overfor morocco. their defeat sinks this tournament's surprise package. but not without making history as the first african country to reach the semi—finals. peru declares a state of emergency as supporters of the former president protest after he's impeached

and detained over corruption allegations. alan degeneres leads tributes to the dancer and dj on her show, stephen twitch. welcome to the programme. and let's kick off in qatar, where france has shattered morocco's hopes of becoming the first african and arab nation to reach the world cup finals. they put up quite a fight, dominated possession but a clinical france won 2—0. the defending champions will now meet argentina in the final this sunday. it's quite simply a salivating prospect for fans of football. 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 semifinals at the al 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 kylian mbappe shot had deflected but morocco were never really out of this match. an overhead kick at the base of the post. france were always in the game here. they knew they couldn't be complacent. they had 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. it wasn't until late on that they scored their second goal inside the last ten minutes. the substitute with pretty much his touch of the game. he benefited from another mazey bit of work from kylian mbappe and it was his deflected shot that fell to him at the far post. randal kolo muani with his first international goal. france winning 2—0, even in injury time. morocco pushed for a goal they deserved at this historic march to the semifinals, the first african nation here, the first arab—speaking nation to get this far, that is at an end, although they will have to live with themselves because they have another match to play, the one no nation wants to play at the 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 made their way to qatar, after this incredible run

that morocco have had, that they hang around they pack out the stadium to give morocco a truly great send—off. but our attention 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 since brazil back in �*58 and �*62. or will it be a third title for argentina? france against argentina, it should be a brilliant final or, as we are going to call it, over the next three days or so, it will be messi against mbappe. great news for supporters of the reigning champions. over in paris, cheering france fans gathered in the champs—elysees. here's what they said about the win. translation: it is huge and twice in a _ translation: it is huge and twice in a row, _ translation: it is huge and twice in a row, that's - translation: it is huge and twice in a row, that's rare. i twice in a row, that's rare. didier deschamps becomes a legend, even more than he is now. that would be crazy, just crazy!

now. that would be crazy, 'ust cra ! �* ,, �* crazy! translation: ??forcedblue - crazy! translation: ??forcedblue i- crazy! translation: j nroncsostus i was crazy! translation: - 7 7 forcedblue i was scared crazy! translation: _ 7 7forcedblue i was scared until the first goal and then the first half was a bit tense with free kicks. the second half was slightly better but the rest of the match was complicated until the match was complicated until the score the second one. that was a relief but otherwise it was a relief but otherwise it was tense. translation: 7 7 forcedblue was tense. translation: 77forcedblue i was was tense. translation: 7 7forcedblue i was mercosur was tense. translation: 77forcedblue i was mercosur i'm a bit disappointed. they play better than the french but. chansley eloped the french deserve a third stubborn americans were strong, really strong. translation: 7 7 forcedblue we strong. translation: 7 7forcedblue we are still happy but there you go, along with france. even though morocco never looked out of the match, they are out and that's led to heartbreak for moroccans. they were hoping for one more huge upset in this tournament. morocco's journey to the semis stunned just about everyone. they've only conceeded one goal, and that was an own goal. that's of course before the game with france. mayenijones is in

casablanca for us. they started off hopeful, as supporters in this historic cafe sang the national anthem, beaming with pride at being the first african nation to make it to a world cup semifinal. but soon they grew frustrated as their team struggled to score against france. well, the game isjust coming to a close and fans are already leaving the cafe. there'sjust so much disappointment here. many had hoped that the moroccan team would be able to defeat the reigning champions, france, but it wasn't to be. unfortunately france scored since the beginning, we lost our captain in the first 20 minutes, but still we managed to fight, we managed to fight until the end. all players, they played good. they really tried. but they were tired, a lot of games, a lot of stress of the whole game, the whole world cup.

ithink... yeah, "dima maghreb. " that means "always morocco". across the city, people watched the game anxiously. this team has galvanised support across generations and in the wider african region. as the dust settles and they recover from the disappointment, moroccans may look back at the historical performance with pride. mayeni jones, bbc news, casablanca. earlier i was joined by football expert tim vickery to look ahead to sunday's world cup final. i asked him how both france and argentina have progressed since they met at the russia world cup in 2018. argentina after that world cup appointed a rookie coach had never taken charge of a senior team his life, i remember diego maradona saying, "have we gone mad, he is a nice lad "but is not even fit

to direct traffic let alone a football team," and here we are four years later, argentina last year, this has been crucial, the whole room i'll expect the whole morale at the moment, they won the copa america, they ebat brazil. matters brought an element of peace. that has brought an element piece for messi's last dance, it is very between sometimes a wonderful party at other times it looks as if everyone on the stadium the pitch is on the verge of a collective nervous breakdown. argentina have loved this ride, it's been a real rollercoaster, a shock to saudi arabia the first game, so one side you've got argentina, with all this emotion, and on the other, you've got a french side conscious of their own status of world champions, not fazed by the extraordinary

noise that the moroccan fans made a few hours ago. and a french side looking to make history because two world cups in a row have been won by italy in the 30s, brazil, �*58 and �*62 but the second one has never been one outside the team's wanted so france will make history if they win their third world cup on sunday. argentina will also win their third if they win and lionel messi rises in the pantheon because then no—one can say he doesn't have a world cup winners medal for argentina. i was going to ask you about that because a friend messaged me after the match saying, "messi, it's time "for him to cement his legacy, put to bed "the ridiculousness that our rinaldo "fans" but france only had 39% of possession in this match, how do you prepare to fight a team like that that have such little possession and yet are so clinical in finishing7 france, they quite like this. they played a little hit this way

against england, they were uncomfortable at times in the game. don't remind us. i'm sorry, it's my right as well. where you go, i go. but they've got such attacking talent. it's not just mbappe. griezmann has been in some ways the most valuable player, giroud, the centre forward, and then there is mbappe. we are talking from a south american angle, mbappe is probably the closest thing we've seen to the great pele in all these years since he hung up his boots, he is really an extraordinary player and he tore argentina to pieces four years ago. he's older, wiser, stronger, faster, that's a huge question. the argentine defence hasn't been tested. he's certainly hasn't come up against anyone at this level of talent in the tournament so far. a huge question for you,

tim, what is the score going to be on sunday? i'd love to see argentina do it but i'm only going to bet on that with your money. i favour france for this one. france will have too much, mbappe and co will be celebrating. i love to be wrong. tim vickery predicting _ i love to be wrong. tim vickery predicting an — i love to be wrong. tim vickery predicting an unfazed - i love to be wrong. tim vickery predicting an unfazed france i predicting an unfazed france against an emotional argentina. the government of peru has declared a 30—day nationwide state of emergency, as supporters of the ousted president, pedro castillo, continue to block some of the country's main roads and airports. mr castillo was impeached last wednesday for alleged corruption and detained after attempting to dissolve congress. naomi choy smith reports. ta nks tanks and troops take over the streets in peru's second largest city is a 30 day state of emergency comes into force. peru's defence minister claims he had no choice after scenes like this. protesters have blocked airport runways, roads

and other critical infrastructure in the past few days as anger boils over at the country's turbulent politics. at least seven protesters have died in clashes with police. the unrest erupted after former president pedro castillo was ousted from office last week. he tried to dissolve congress and was swiftly impeached. his successor, dina boluarte, has tried to calm tensions by offering to bring elections forward. translation: we must remain calm- _ forward. translation: we must remain calm. peru _ forward. translation: we must remain calm. peru cannot - forward. translation: we must remain calm. peru cannot be - remain calm. peru cannot be overflowed with blood. we already lived through this experience in the 1980s and 19905 experience in the 1980s and 1990s and i believe that we don't want to return to this painful history.— painful history. but words aren't enough _ painful history. but words aren't enough for- painful history. but wordsl aren't enough for castillo's supporters who want him released, and recollections straightaway. —— recollections transit yellow dina boluarte is not arrow residence. let people

lecture and _ not arrow residence. let people lecture and then _ not arrow residence. let people lecture and then i'll— not arrow residence. let people lecture and then i'll recognise l lecture and then i'll recognise her but people did elect her. people elected pedro castillo and he is our president! castillo is still in custody and in legal limbo after a judge denied his appeal. he could face charges of conspiracy and rebellion. as the deadly violence spreads to the deadly violence spreads to the capital, lima, peru's political crisis deepens. naomi choy smith, bbc news. we will keep bringing you the latest on the unfortunate situation in peru. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: why south korean women fear they could lose their hard—fought gains on gender equality. cheering and singing. 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 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that 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 in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house, to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteeing bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: france will face argentina

in sunday's showpiece world cup final after a 2—0 victory over the tournament sensations morocco. peru declares a state of emergency as supporters of the former president protest after he's impeached and detained over corruption allegations. following russia's latest barrage of airstrikes on ukraine, targeting the capital kyiv, in which ukrainian officials say their air defences shot down 13 drones, us media is reporting that president biden is planning to send expensive patriot air defence missiles to ukraine. ukraine has been requesting further air defence support for some time. earlier i spoke to melinda haring — the deputy director of the atlantic council's eurasia centre. i asked her why the us are proposing the use of patriot missiles now7 so yesterday we had a big donor conference in paris,

and ukraine's needs to survive the winter are very long and russia has taken the fight from the battlefield to the skies since october, and the decisions to send the patriot missile system by washington is a very good one. it is an overdue one but it is a recognition that ukraine needs this system in orderfor ukraine to survive the winter. so i think it is driven by a fear that the ukrainians may resupply with more long—range weapons and that ukraine be to survive the winter. so i think it is driven by a fear that the ukrainians may resupply with more long—range cells but also a fear that ukraine will not be able to survive the winter if we don't step up its air defence systems now. you say it is overdue to help with the problems over the winter but won't it take a long time to set up? how does it work to get the system in place? that is one of

the big objections. the ukrainians have been begging for the system for a long time. we don't have lot of them and your right to say it is a long training period. quite an investment. the big objection that washington made over and over again was the ukrainians have not worked with something this sophisticated and the ukrainians have made this request more than once. ukrainians have shown they can learn how to use the system can they defend themselves very effectively? the claim came from dmitri medvedev is irresponsible and a loser, they don't take anything he says seriously and i don't think anyone does. he is the former president, and he is a hot head. i don't think it speaks for anyone but himself. so i don't take it seriously, and you have to remember germany is part of nato and russia is not looking for a fight with nato, it knows it would lose very quickly. is this everyone's worst nightmare that we are having iran in kamikaze drones and if the us advent system is brought in and set up, could this

not be one of those never—ending conflicts of a proxy war on someone else public land? i don't think so. at some point, the russians are going to run out of missiles and that point will come pretty soon. we have seen at least eight barrages of missiles, and this is 80 to 90 missiles, and we are expecting another three to five before the russians run out. the question is will ukraine's electricity grid hold7 we don't know the answer to that question. i have asked a lot of technical specialists in kyiv and it is sort of a cat and mouse game. so putin cannot win on the battlefield. he is spent, his forces are spent, he has major problems with morale, with training, there will be a hard winter for his side, so they are hitting civilian infrastructure and they are trying to convince ukrainians to quit and leave and move to a safer place, and so far the ukrainians aren't moving. let's get some of the day's other news. president biden has spoken optimistically of improved links with africa during a summit in which he announced

billions of dollars in new funding for the continent. he told the gathering in washington that when africa succeeded, so too did the united states. the summit of heads of state is seen as an attempt by america to re—assert its influence in africa at a time when china, russia and turkey are deepening their involvement. the man accused of attacking nancy pelosi's husband has pleaded not guilty at a court in san francisco. paul pelosi was hit with a hammer at the couple's home in october suffering a fractured skull. david depape — a canadian national — pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder and burglary. four migrants died when their boat capsized while crossing the english channel from france in freezing conditions. dozens of others were pulled from the water by the british and french navies, coastguards and fishermen and several were airlifted to hospital. refugee charities say the deaths highlight the government's failure to provide safe routes

for migrants. for all its recent success, south korea has a dire record on women's rights. it has the worst gender pay gap of any wealthy nation country, and men dominate its boardrooms and politics. but rather than promising to tackle the issue south korea's new president wants to close its ministry for gender equality, 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 that some viewers may find distressing. 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 bathroom7" but my boss said, "how can you tell men to wash towels7" 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. for months, i've been asking to interview the gender equality minister,

but they've refused to sit down with us. can ijust... do you agree with the president, that there is no structural sexism in korea 7 "there needs to be more women in politics and we must close the gender pay gap," she says. she goes on to explain how the current services will be protected. but what about all the progress still to be made? that's what women are now worried about. how can korea fix a problem it won't even acknowledge? jean mackenzie, bbc news, seoul. stephen �*twitch�* boss, best known as the dancing dj and sidekick on the ellen show, has died by suicide at a0. amid an outpouring of tributes, the tv star's wife said he was "the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans". tom brada reports.

asa main as a main stain on the wildly successful ellen show, stephen boss met with countless celebrities and extraordinary figures. after hearing of his death now they choose to remember his extraordinary qualities. ellen the generous tweeted that she was heartbroken describing him as pure light and love. her grief was echoed by michelle obama who posted this photo and a message calling stephen an incredible force, someone who radiated life and positivity. after appearing as a dancer in movies like bleeds of glory and hairspray, boss found fame as a runner—up on so you think you can dance into thousand and eight. he went on to become an integral part of ellen the generous's us talk show from 2014 until it finished earlier this year. before the show came to an end the generous surprised him with a special tribute which moved him to tears. i tribute which moved him to tears. ., , ., ., tribute which moved him to tears. ., y., ., ,., tears. i love you, i got you something- _

tears. i love you, i got you something. i— tears. i love you, i got you something. i love - tears. i love you, i got you something. i love you - tears. i love you, i got you l something. i love you and... tears. i love you, i got you i something. i love you and... i love the _ something. i love you and... i love the family _ something. i love you and... i love the family that _ something. i love you and... i love the family that we - something. i love you and... i love the family that we have. | love the family that we have. and — love the family that we have. and it — love the family that we have. and it is _ love the family that we have. and it is something that i will always— and it is something that i will always remember that you gave me a _ always remember that you gave me a place where i could just be myself. me a place where i could 'ust be myseltfi me a place where i could 'ust be m self. ,, . , ., be myself. since his death was confirmed _ be myself. since his death was confirmed social— be myself. since his death was confirmed social media - be myself. since his death was confirmed social media has - be myself. since his death was l confirmed social media has been flooded with tributes paying respects to stephen boss and his family and urging people to always check in with their loved ones. he is survived by three children and his wife who released a statement which read we love you, we miss you and i will always save the last dance for you. a reminder of our top story, thousands of french football fans have taken to the streets of paris to celebrate their team's 2—0 win against morocco. france will play argentina in the final and if they win those

people will be even happier, they will retain the men's world cup trophy, the first team to retain it since brazil in the 1960s. happy scenes from france there. thank you for joining us. hello. this long spell of cold weather is not ending just yet. for the time being, we are still stuck in the 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 particularly into the start of next week. a south—westerly wind starts to develop and that will bring something significantly milder. in fact, by monday, the southwest of england could see highs of 16 degrees. but with that, there will be some wind and rain at times. but 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've had the showers

over recent i'ioui’s. parts of northern ireland, the east coast of england, but 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 will have a wintry flavour. 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 five degrees at best. through thursday night, once against those temperatures will drop like a stone. there'll be further wintry showers, some further icy stretches, and, widely, we are looking at lows of —4 or —5 degrees. some places will get colder than that, and some 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 some 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, and 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 the northwest. some of those will still be wintry, but those temperatures beginning to creep upwards. but it's as we get into sunday that we see this big change. this frontal system driving its way in from the southwest. that will bring heavy rain, strong winds, perhaps some snow for a time, but, behind that, things will turn much milder.

this is bbc news. the headlines: france have reached the final of the football world cup, ending morocco's dream of becoming the first african country to win the trophy. the french team secured a 2—0 semifinal victory through goals from theo hernandez and kolo muani. the defending champions will now face argentina in sunday's final. a nationwide state of emergency has been declared in peru, where supporters of the former president, pedro castillo, continue to stage protests. mr castillo was impeached and detained for alleged corruption following his attempt to dissolve peru's congress. prosecuters are trying to jail him for 18 months. speaking at the summit of heads of state in washington,

the us presidentjoe biden has announced billions of dollars in new funding for african nations.