good afternoon. train passengers are facing further disruption on the last weekend before christmas as rail workers continue strike action. only 20% of services are expected to operate, but the leader of the rmt union, mick lynch, says he's optimistic a pay deal can be reached, despite further strikes scheduled for next weekend. our correspondent ramzan karmali reports. another day of empty platforms, a

familiar sight as railway workers hit the picket lines once again. we will be calling at london... this trend may be _ we will be calling at london... this trend may be moving but only 20% of services are running today, a services are running today, a service that commuters of begrudgingly getting used to. strike the week before _ begrudgingly getting used to. strike the week before christmas is a little _ the week before christmas is a little bit — the week before christmas is a little bit harsh but at the same time, — little bit harsh but at the same time, you _ little bit harsh but at the same time, you know, if that is what they feel like _ time, you know, if that is what they feel like they need to do, that is something they need to do. so, — something they need to do. so. our— something they need to do. so, ourtrain something they need to do. so, our train won't be taking us all the way— so, our train won't be taking us all the way to— so, our train won't be taking us all the way to the _ so, our train won't be taking us all the way to the south—west - so, our train won't be taking us all the way to the south—west where i so, our train won't be taking us all. the way to the south—west where we live so _ the way to the south—west where we live so we _ the way to the south—west where we live so we will— the way to the south—west where we live so we will have _ the way to the south—west where we live so we will have to _ the way to the south—west where we live so we will have to basically- live so we will have to basically -et live so we will have to basically get as — live so we will have to basically get as far— live so we will have to basically get as far as— live so we will have to basically get as far as we _ live so we will have to basically get as far as we can _ live so we will have to basically get as far as we can and - live so we will have to basically get as far as we can and then l live so we will have to basically. get as far as we can and then try and find— get as far as we can and then try and find other— get as far as we can and then try and find other ways _ get as far as we can and then try and find other ways of _ get as far as we can and then try and find other ways of getting i get as far as we can and then try and find other ways of getting to where _ and find other ways of getting to where we — and find other ways of getting to where we live. _ where we live. the _ where we live. the boss - where we live. the boss at i where we live. i the boss at the where we live. - the boss at the rmt where we live. _ the boss at the rmt union said where we live. — the boss at the rmt union said talks are ongoing but movement was needed from all sides to resolve the dispute over pay and conditions. obviously this strike action is now and we are hopeful in the days to come we will have more discussions with both sets of companies. and if they are willing to compromise and willing to take a few steps forward, we will see what we can develop with

them. it does need them move off their positions we have already rejected. their positions we have already re'ected. ., , , ., rejected. today is the second of the latest ltit-hour _ rejected. today is the second of the latest 48-hour walk-out _ rejected. today is the second of the latest 48-hour walk-out this - rejected. today is the second of the latest 48-hour walk-out this week, | latest 48—hour walk—out this week, more industrial action is planned at 6pm on christmas eve until 6am on the 27th, and two further strikes are planned affecting services next month onjanuary are planned affecting services next month on january the are planned affecting services next month onjanuary the 3rd, four, sixth and seventh. this last weekend before christmas is vital for the retail sector and strikes are hurting many businesses. this is the most important week for me the whole year when we take our proper money. yesterday i was in portobello road we had half the football we normally have, from day—trippers from the rest of the country. the rail delivery group which represents rail companies said it was hopeful a resolution could be found but whether this dispute will be resolved any time soon still remains unclear.

the clarity this commuters need, that businesses need as well, whether this dispute can be resolved. the sound you heard from mick lynch in the report and the rail delivery group sounded more optimistic than they were a week or two ago but still there is no concrete evidence the dispute will be resolved any time soon and that is what is most worrying in the run—up to christmas and the impact it is having on commuters, businesses and generally the impact into the new year. hospitals have been told to free up beds to prepare for extensive disruption caused by ambulance staff strikes. the warning letter from national health service bosses comes ahead of strike action by ambulance workers over a pay dispute, due to take place on december 21st and 28th. our political correspondent jonathan blake is here with me. tell us a little bit more about these warnings. there is a clear concern from the government and nhs about the impact

of the forthcoming strikes particularly ambulance workers on wednesday walking out. from the government the minister in charge of contingency planning oliver dowden talked about big risks and significant disruption associated with that strike alone. nhs leaders talking about a challenging period. you mentioned that letter to hospitals, asking them to get patients into a&e and on as quickly as possible to keep things moving so ambulance can get on the road. doctors say it will be hard to achieve given the lack of capacity in the system to begin with. labour is urging the government to get around a table to negotiate. they say they won't. a handful of conservatives saying the government should look again at this pay offer. there is no sign they are willing. there is no sign they are willing. the nhs, the government, the public now braced forfurther the nhs, the government, the public now braced for further strikes across the health service. depending on how things get, that could shift the political discussion but at the

moment both sides staying firm. jonathan blake, our political correspondent. three women remain in a critical condition, after being injured in a crush at a gig at the brixton 02 academy. the concert, by singer asake had to be abandoned part—way through. the met police say a "large number of people" tried to force their way inside. leo varadkar has become ireland's prime minister for a second time. he's replaced micheal martin, under the terms of a historic coalition deal made between their respective political parties after inconclusive election results two years ago. our ireland correspondent chris page is outside the irish parliament in dublin. chris. it is not very often that a political party voluntarily hand over the biggestjob in government to another party but that is exactly what has happened here in dublin. to give you an idea ofjust how

historic this is. if you years ago a coalition deal between fear fail and fear no girl, leo varadkar�*s party, would have been seen unlikely. sofianna gail's chief electoral rival, with michael martin resigning as taoiseach, and leo varadkar has been voted in by members of the irish parliament. he was previously taoiseach from 2017 until the last general election in 2020. now his relations with rishi sunak will be particularly important as the uk and eu continue to negotiate over the brexit arrangements for northern ireland. another interesting moment in history, for the first time, britain and its nearest neighbour island are both run by men of indian heritage. turning down your boiler, unplugging appliances

and using a draught excluder are all energy savings tips included in a government campaign being launched today to help cut energy bills. our climate editorjustin rowlatt spent the morning at the home of the energy secretary grant shapps — finding out what he's doing to save energy. the government's effort to get us all to save energy begins today and this is a bit unusual, i've been invited to the secretary of state for business and energy�*s home to discuss the campaign. high. how are you? good to see you. energy saving tips? the government says draught proofing your doors and windows could save £60 a year, and then, there is your boiler. lots of boilers are just set to max as this one is. they don't need to be. this is a question of turning it down, about 60.

that could save £100. the government also recommend turning off appliances at the plug. potentially saving another £70. and maybe also turn off radiators in empty rooms. it is hoped the campaign and website will help save money and cut our carbon footprint but also cut billions from the coast of the energy support for consumers. prices are going up we know. we have capped that, that is worth £900 as well, in addition to the 400 people are getting direct from their bills. this is a common sense thing. people can't do it if they don't know about it and we have a role. this campaign represents a policy reversal. the former prime minister liz truss blocked plans for a similar effort when she was prime minister. justin rowlatt, bbc news. with all the sport now, here's paul scott at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon.

it's the final test between england and pakistan in karachi, but the first test for their youngest ever men's player rehan ahmed. in his first match for his country the leg spinner shone as england bowled the hosts out for 304. joe wilson reports. 18 years, 126 days, playing for england. and his dad practically young enough to be a team—mate. lovely. at 31.5, jack leach was opening the bowling. shafique out lbw. early in his final test match had made 45. he gloved that. then folks record got his fingers beneath the ball, out. rememberthat folks record got his fingers beneath the ball, out. remember that there is a stasak 2—0 to england. in karachi a last chance to lead pakistan to glory. stand by for a first success for the spin bowling ahmed of. a fine catch by ollie

pope. the youngest man to take a test wicket for england. joe root two mohammad rizwan. where have i hit at? straight to ben stokes. as a bowler you learn to love your luck. here is another gift, a risky run, rapid work from ben foakes, the ball on his right glove took off a bell. pakistan were all out for 304. the match is still young. ahmed bowling for pakistan. crawling out lbw. what more will this young man do? joe wilson, bbc news. elsewhere, france and argentina's footballers are going through their final preparations ahead of tomorrow's world cup final. before that though is the third place play—off. morocco take on croatia in a little under two hours' time. nesta mcgregor is in qatar and joins us now. nesta, good to see you, this is perhaps not the fixture we were expecting?

we will talk about those two teams in a second in the play—off. an interesting match for a number of reasons because we have two teams here who have got 48 hours after the disappointment of not reaching a final, to sum up a gigantic effort. already an exhausting five weeks of football. and a dilemma for the managers, lots of players who have played, does he read them and give those who haven't played much or at all a chance to build world cup memories? before this tournament, if you had given morocco third place match, they would have taken it. for some this is like winning the tournament, is a prize package, the first african team to reach the semifinals and a chance for their place. croatia, runners—up in russia four years ago, another great performance from them. one day we

can be sure of, it will be a raucous crowd, morocco always are. thanks nesta, coverage of that match is here on bbc one at 2.30, but that's all your sport for now. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is after the football at 5.15. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. in ukraine, efforts are continuing to repair critical infrastructure following the latest wave of russian missile strikes. the mayor of kyiv said the city's water supply has been reconnected, and heating and electricity partially restored. the kremlin says president putin spent friday consulting military commanders about how the war in ukraine should proceed. ukrainian leaders say moscow is planning a fresh offensive early in the new year.

earlier i spoke to our correspondent, hugo bachega, about the conditions. there is this dense, thick fog here in kyiv this morning. i think this gives you an idea of how difficult it has been not only for emergency workers who are trying to repair the damage caused by those attacks, but also for residents here in kyiv, and many other parts of the country, who are now without electricity, heating, and in some places, even without water. you can't see, but i am surrounded by snow here so it has been snowing here in kyiv and it's been raining, so very difficult conditions for people. we had an update from the mayor here in kyiv, he said water is now been fully restored, but parts of the city remain without electricity and heating. and in kharkiv, the country's second largest city, the attacks yesterday meant that the entire city was without electricity.

we heard from the officials there in kharkiv saying that electricity has now been restored. i think what we're seeing here is that russia continues with this campaign targeting this country's electricity infrastructure and officials have been accusing russia of weaponising winter with these attacks. temperatures have plummeted, they have been below zero in many parts of the country, and this is obviously a country where temperatures can drop to —15, —20 celsius. yesterday, we have interviewed some people here in kyiv after those attacks and i think there is growing anger with these attacks. i think, people say that civilians have become the target in this conflict. but one person told me that look, yes, we don't have electricity, but perhaps this is the price to be paid to keep the russians away.

and have we heard anything from moscow following the strikes yesterday? i think this has been the strategy for weeks, now. and the authorities in russia say that these targets of power stations, heating stations, are legitimate targets. they have been attacking those for facilities for weeks now. yesterday, the authorities here said russia had fired 76 missiles and most of them, 60 of them, were intercepted by the country's air defence. but more than a dozen hit targets across the country and we saw emergency blackouts being introduced. and i think what we're hearing from president zelensky, from top officials, is that these attacks are unlikely to stop. president zelensky, last night, said, russia still had missiles to carry out heavy strikes targeting the country's electricity infrastructure. i think the authorities are saying that this is how russia is responding to military setbacks

on the battlefield, by attacking civilian sides, civilian infrastructure, and they say that that this is a strategy that perhaps the goal here is to try to force the ukrainians to surrender or to engage in negotiations. but the authorities are saying that this is not going to work. the owner of twitter, elon musk, has taken to the platform to announce that the accounts ofjournalists which had recently been suspended will now be reinstated after a poll of users. earlier, the united nations had added its voice, criticising the original action. it said the suspensions set a dangerous precedent, and the eu warned that twitter could be hit with sanctions. tom brarda reports. twitter finds itself

at the centre of yet another row. on thursday, reporters from the new york times, cnn and the washington post were among a number ofjournalists locked out of their accounts. a twitter spokesperson said they had violated the rules, but many are concerned about what seems to be an increasingly blurred line between content moderation and censorship. we're very disturbed by the arbitrary suspension of accounts of journalists that we saw on twitter. media voices should not be silenced on a platform that professes to be a space for freedom of speech. that statement came hours after this warning from the eu commissioner... at the heart of this story is elon musk�*s dispute with a now—suspended account, @elonjet. using publicly available information, it had been sharing location data on mr musk�*s private jet. something which he says puts him and his family at risk. many of the suspended journalists had been covering that story.

the one thing that all of us had in common was that we had linked to the facebook page tracking his private jets. i guess the real lesson is that if they want to find a reason to ban people, you know, he can find that, and then he can kind of come up with an explanation later on. before lifting the suspensions, mr musk had explained his reasoning, tweeting that... doxxing is when you share someone's private information online hoping to do them harm. and, few would argue with twitter prioritising users' safety. but some are questioning how this flurry of suspensions matches up with mr musk�*s supposed commitment to free speech. tom brada, bbc news.

china's largest city, shanghai, has ordered most of its schools to take classes online as covid cases soar. nurseries and childcare centres will also shut from monday, according to shanghai's education bureau. restrictions were eased by chinese authorities earlier this month following a wave of protests targeting china's zero—covid strategy. but the easing of strict lockdown measures has led to growing concerns over the spread of covid in china. let's talk to isabel hilton, founder of china dialogue and visiting professor at the lau institute. thank you forjoining us. first of thank you for “oining us. first of all, what thank you for “oining us. first of all. what is _ thank you forjoining us. first of all, what is your _ thank you forjoining us. first of all, what is your initial— thank you forjoining us. first of all, what is your initial reaction l all, what is your initial reaction to this? do you think it's a sensible option? quite i think it's inevitable. we are seeing so much infection in china, so every business is affected and schools are affected so pupils are sick and teachers are sick and parents don't want to send their children into classrooms because they know that they are likely to come home sick then the family get sick so i think closing schools is a sensible move,

at this point. has closing schools is a sensible move, at this point-— closing schools is a sensible move, at this point. has there been enough information put _ at this point. has there been enough information put out _ at this point. has there been enough information put out there, _ at this point. has there been enough information put out there, is - at this point. has there been enough information put out there, is there . information put out there, is there much preparation going on for this or is it quite a sudden announcement?- or is it quite a sudden announcement? ., ,. , announcement? no, school closures are re announcement? no, school closures are pretty sudden. _ announcement? no, school closures are pretty sudden, but _ announcement? no, school closures are pretty sudden, but the _ announcement? no, school closures are pretty sudden, but the whole - are pretty sudden, but the whole reversal of the policy has been extremely sudden. if you look at what is happening in china, you can see a population that wasn't prepared and actually health service that wasn't prepared and a bureaucracy that wasn't prepared. it was very sudden, indeed. it went from extreme lockdown to no lockdown and so after three years of trying to prevent infection, what we are seeing the government say now is that in this new phase, the mequon phase, infection is fine. it's no worse than a common cold, we can all get covid, it's ok. but actually, people have been told for three years that they had to avoid infection at all cost so, you know,

it's very confusing for people, they are pre—emptively trying to buy up anti—fever medicines and they are running out so there is a sense of dislocation and panic in all of the major cities. dislocation and panic in all of the major cities-— dislocation and panic in all of the ma'or cities. . , ., , ., ~ ma'or cities. why do you think there is major cities. why do you think there is so much confusion, _ major cities. why do you think there is so much confusion, such - major cities. why do you think there is so much confusion, such a - major cities. why do you think there is so much confusion, such a big - is so much confusion, such a big country, does it feel the confusion is coming from the top with all of these mixed messages?- is coming from the top with all of these mixed messages? well, it was a sudden reversal. _ these mixed messages? well, it was a sudden reversal. and _ these mixed messages? well, it was a sudden reversal. and it _ these mixed messages? well, it was a sudden reversal. and it didn't - these mixed messages? well, it was a sudden reversal. and it didn't do - these mixed messages? well, it was a sudden reversal. and it didn't do my i sudden reversal. and it didn't do my doesn't seem to be a change in policy for which all the people who had to implement it, all the provincial level and city level authorities, didn't really seem to have been prepared. in two or three years of strict lockdown and prevention of infection, what the government failed to do was get enough vaccines in enough arms. so that when this policy was lifted, as it inevitably had to be at some point, people were protected. so you have a population that has not been exposed to the virus previously, so

they are vulnerable, and you have a population which, on the whole, is under vaccinated. particularly the elderly people, if you look at the experience in the west, in britain, for example. you can still get covert if you had vaccination, and we have rather better vaccines, but you don't get it very seriously. and the best combination is the natural immunity that you get from having had covert once or twice plus the vaccination. whereas in china, people haven't had it. so, in addition to being under vaccinated, they don't have natural immunity. so we really don't know what is going to happen. when this happened in hong kong, it was pretty bad and hong kong, it was pretty bad and hong kong, it was pretty bad and hong kong, for a while, had the highest death rate in the world form covert. there are reasons to be considered. covert. there are reasons to be considered-— covert. there are reasons to be considered. ., ,, , ., , . to the world cup now, and football resumes in qatar later with the third place playoff match between croatia and morocco. croatia made the final four years

ago in russia, but lost. meanwhile morocco will hope to cap their achievement of becoming the first team from africa to reach the semi—finals. a little earlier, our africa correspondent, mayenijones, sent us this update from casablanca. these young players behind me have been inspired by the national team's performance in this world cup, and some of them may well have dreams to match their achievement, if not supersede it in the future. this is a country that has been incredibly supportive of their team, week after week, i'm told crowds here in the city's cafes where people tend to watch the match would grow. and you would see support from right across the social spectrum, right across the gender divide, right across different ages and generations of families, so a lot of pride, here in morocco, at how well the national team has done in this world cup. do you feel like celebrations are building around you? yeah, i think it's fair to say

that the celebrations this time round are more muted than during the semifinals, it's a weekend and also lots of people were disappointed by the result of the match against france, they felt they should have been awarded a couple of penalties, as a matter of fact, the moroccan football association has complained to fifa about some of the refereeing decisions in that match, but still, bar and cafe owners we have spoken to here have said they are expecting large crowds at the establishments later today and lots of moroccan football fans will be hoping that their team can at least place third in this competition after what has been a really incredible performance. of course, you are surrounded by potentially some of the footballing stars of tomorrow. do you feel like the success is already trickling down? definitely. this is a country that has invested massively in its football over the last 13 years. for both men and women, it should be said, their female football team went on to reach the final

of the africa cup of nations not too long ago. and so they have built a state—of—the—art facility not too far from where we are, about an hour. any young moroccan that has dreams of reaching the national team and playing internationalfootball, may well be able to do so. they have facilities here to do this, and so the future does look great for moroccan football. south africa's president, cyril ramaphosa, may find out on saturday if his anc party is going to oust him. the president avoided impeachment proceedings earlier this week over a scandal involving millions of dollars found hidden in a sofa at his farm. mr ramaphosa maintains he has done nothing wrong, but when he addressed delegates injohannesburg on friday, his speech was heckled. take a listen. i want to appeal to everyone who

wants to raise their dissatisfaction to do so in an orderly manner, in the way that we do things here in the african national congress. heckling we have been in existence for 110 years. and this is not the time to come and display this type of disorderly behaviour. crowd jeers the chanting began when the president's predecessor, jacob zuma, entered the venue to loud cheers. but despite the opposition, mr ramaphosa is still expected to retain power. tembiso fakude is a senior researcher at africa—asia dialogue, based in south africa, and he gave us this assessment. well it's a big threat, particularly because the anc is accused of not delivering the services that are desperately

needed by the people, but importantly the anc has been accused of corruption, which is what president cyril ramaphosa has been trying to fight since he began his tenure. and the reason why you have that heckling in the meeting of the conference of the anc is precisely because there is a group of anc members who do not want to see cyril ramaphosa continuing with this fighting of corruption and reforming of the anc. many of those that are accused of corruption, or that were mentioned in a report which was commissioned known as the zondo commission in south africa, involved members of the anc, many of whom who are still active members of the anc. and those are the people that are trying to push back cyril ramaphosa's efforts in trying to clean up corruption within the anc. and they somehow came up with an accusation which is still, by the way, to be proved in the court of law of cyril ramaphosa having foreign currency in his farm, which was stolen by some people and later on reported to the police by one of the political competitors of cyril ramaphosa.

the hollywood star, angelina jolie, has announced she will be stepping down from her role as an ambassador for the un refugee agency after more than 20 years. the organisation described her as one of the most influential proponents of refugees�* rights. it also praised her work visiting more than 60 field missions. msjolie says she wants to engage more directly with people affected by conflict. officials of a us military office set up by the pentagon have told journalists that they've received several hundred new reports of unidentified flying objects. the all—domain anomaly resolution office was established this year to monitor sightings of unexplained phenomena in the air, and also in the water and in space. however, so far it hasn't found evidence to suggest that aliens have visited earth from outer space. now it's time for a look at the weather, lets cross the newsroom to stav danaos.

thanks very much. hello there, it has been so long, finally this weekend, we will see a transition of something much milder pushing up from the south—west, with it turning wet and windy. as it does so, that transition is likely to give rise to a significant ice risk in places throughout the day on sunday. more on that in just a moment. through this evening and overnight we will have a few wintry showers across northern and western areas but once again for many it's another very cold night to come. central northern and eastern areas in particular. across the south in the west, cited that milder air starting to make inroads. as you move through sunday, you can see this low system brings wet and windy weather to southern and western areas and it will slowly trundle northwards as it bumps into that cold air, this is what we are likely to see the hazards starting. from around mid wales, the midlands, north woods. so much so, the met office have now issued an amber ice wadding for northern england in particular, there is likely to be very slippery pavements and roads which could cause further

disruption. for sunday, it will be turning wet and windy for many of us, there is at risk of rain and sleet falling on frozen services likely to give very icy conditions. stay tuned for the forecast. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: train passengers in britain face further delays today, as the rmt union continue their 48—hour strike — only one in five services are expected to operate. hospitals are told to free up beds ahead of ambulance staff going on strike in england on wednesday. work is continuing to restore electricity and heating in parts of ukraine — after a wave of russian air strikes hits infrastructure. elon musk reinstates the accounts ofjournalists controversially suspended from twitter. leo varadkar becomes ireland's new taoiseach, swapping roles with micheal martin — as part of an historic coalition agreement and morocco take on croatia in the third place play—off —