this is bbc news the headlines at six. train passengers 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. queues at beijing crematoria and school closures in shanghai as virus cases soar after the lifting of china's zero—covid policy. work is continuing to restore electricity and heating in parts of ukraine — after a wave of russian airstrikes hits infrastructure.

a 33—year—old woman dies after being injured in a crush at a gig on thursday at london's 02 academy brixton — two other women remain in a critical condition. and croatia beat morocco 2—1 to take third place at the football world cup in qatar. hello and welcome to bbc news. train passengers are enduring further disruption on the last weekend before christmas as rail workers continue their strike action. only 20% of services are thought to be operating, but the leader of the rmt union, mick lynch, says he's optimistic a pay deal can be reached, despite further strikes sheduled for next week.

we now know wales and scotland were able to settle the industrial dispute over pay with the railway workers — so what makes it more difficult in england? here's from ben clatworthy, the time's transport correspondent. wales, scotland, as you say, have managed to come to an agreement. the issue in england is that the way things are run is slightly different and things have been a little bit difficult in terms of getting to what the rmt call an acceptable agreement. now, what will change things is within the last week the tssa union and unite have both accepted the offer from network rail, which amounts to 9% over two years for most employees, raising to about 11% for some of the workers on smaller salaries. now that, they say, network rail, is a very good offer and one that should be accepted. of course, the public will be starting to say, well, if these other unions are accepting it, why not the rmt?

not for this because, of course, domestic services interconnect with eurostar services at st pancras. they do indeed. i mean, the disruption and the knock on of these day strikes is huge. we know that as soon as services get going again after a strike, things take time to ramp back up. trains are out of place where they would normally be on the network. but also, yes, eurostar are affected. they said yesterday that those strikes that your correspondent just mentioned over christmas mean that there will be no services to the continent at all on boxing day, which is a very busy day for people travelling in both directions, having spent christmas with family and loved ones. you've written about accusations from some conservatives, in particular chris loder, who's the conservative mp for west dorset, that the rmt strikes are politically motivated. but the labour party has not come out officially in support of these strikes. so where does the idea that it is politically

motivated come from? i think the main point to that is that actually it's the first time since franchising that the rail unions have been able to have a strike against the government. that's because the government now largely control the purse strings of the railway that happened during the pandemic when passenger shush numbers collapsed and the franchise system also collapsed because there was no way of making money. the way the networks are run now is completely changed. the government give money to the rail operating companies and they then return all the money that they make in terms of revenue. so there's no risk to them at all. that was to keep services running. that model has now stuck and is the model that the government intend to follow through with even as we emerge fully from the pandemic. it does mean, though, that for the first time it's not strikes against private companies as such, but against the government. and last week, mark harper,

the transport secretary, between the rmt and the train operating companies, of which they're in dispute with m, fell apart because of a crucial instruction that the modernizations had to include. driver operated only trains with no guards. and last week, as i say, mark harper, the transport secretary, didn't rule out that that was a stipulation that had been added into the offer from the government. earlier i spoke to the editor of rail magazine, nigel harris, who spoke about the costs of strikes on those at the picket line. significant.

very good question, we have already had quite a few strike days this year which have cost the workers a day's pay every time it happens. they have had so many of those, they wouldn't get that back with the pay increases. at over christmas that really cranks up. for example, if you are an rmt engineer due to work on one of the christmas day possessions when network rail will take a few days to do a really big job that it couldn't do at evenings and weekends, on christmas day you will lose triple time, three days pay and the day in looe. that is pretty significant when, injanuary, there will be a lot of christmas credit card bills dropping on the doorstep in addition to the cost of living rise. it is expensive for the members to pursue a strike for the length of time this has, particularly over christmas. sometimes unions have hardship funds for this eventuality? would there be enough in the pot? no, you are talking about large amounts of money. no doubt there will be help for some people, but across the piece,

if you have all your engineers effectively losing three days pay and a day, it is a large amount of money, it is almost a complete week's pay for one day's work. what happens to that engineering programme that has probably been long in the pipeline and as you said, it cannot be done on a normal weekend or evening? it can, but at great expense because they have to do it in little bits and you have to get your workers on and off site and do it in chunks. where as shutting it down for a few days is more efficient to do it. i asked the same question of network rail and apparently they tell me very few of the jobs have actually been cancelled and they have enough management and other staff to carry on with thejob, which makes it a singularly may be futile gesture in some ways. what about the wider impact of the strike? we have heard small businesses are being affected by a number of forms of industrial action, the rmt is one of them? they are. i really feel, my heart

bleeds for the hospitality industry, who were thinking, third christmas they have had two bad ones and they really needed a good one this christmas to see them through to hopefully better times next year. and all the news i've heard is they are losing a0 and 50% of what they would normally have as footfall and takings. these are for people who are not at the top of the pay chain and would probably kill for the sort of money that a lot of railway staff are already on. it is divisive, it is damaging, it causes heartache for absolutely everyone. i must put the rmt�*s point of view which is, they say some of their staff are very poorly paid. it is not like they are earning high sums of money and that is who they are battling for. we will offer that there in the absence of the rmt. that is right, the anniversary

of the strike is coming up in a few days, the dispute has been going on for about a year. there is a year's back pay to had. it is 4% from last year, 4% next year plus a of other benefits. china is seeing an explosion of positive covid cases, just ten days after suddenly easing its strict lockdown measures following a wave of protests. the capital, beijing is one of the worst affected areas. hearses bearing the dead lined the driveway to this designated covid crematorium as the city's funeral homes also report being busier than normal. residents are also receiving booster shots in the form of a nasal spray. in china's largest city, shanghai, officials have ordered most of its schools to take classes online as covid cases soar. nurseries and childcare centres will also shut from monday,

according to the education bureau. now, the easing of strict lockdown measures has led to growing concerns over the spread of covid across the country. earlier i spoke with our asia pacific editor celia hatton, and began by asking how much concern there is in china at the moment. they don't know what the numbers are. the national health commission which is china's top health body has had to admit there has been a breakdown in the testing and recording systems across china. so they are not even quite sure what they are not even quite sure what the true numbers are. anecdotally, many people are reporting that everybody they know has covid. those are the messages i have been receiving from contacts all over china for the past few days. many chinese cities are eerily quiet because shops and businesses are closed. many people are isolating at home, may be because many people have covid or they don't want to get covid. that is the real concern. you mention schools have closed in

shanghai. now the difference here, schools were closed before because they wanted to limit the chances of anybody getting covid. now schools are closing simply because so many teachers and staff members are ill that the school simply cannot stay open. isabel hilton is the founder of china dialogue. she says vaccine uptake is also an issue. the difficulty is that sufficiently vaccinated is the question. unfortunately it is a relatively low percentage, particularly with elderly people. to understand why i think in the time of severe lockdowns, nearly three years of china being severely locked down and thatis china being severely locked down and that is the containment measure. people had a false sense of security that omicron or covid had passed china by in many ways and it was raging in the rest of the world. but in many places normal life is going on in china until the arrival of

omicron. that really defeated the strategy of lockdown because there were more places on lockdown but more and more omicron was being reported. it was a failing strategy even before it was lifted. but in that two, three years when the population could have been vaccinated, especially the elderly population there was a certain reluctance amongst the elderly to be vaccinated and a lot of people didn't see the need. and the government didn't push it until relatively recently. so you have people, about 20% of the elderly who have had all the doses they would need of a chinese vaccine to be safe. a 33—year—old woman has died after being injured in the crush at a concert at london's brixton 02 academy on thursday. the met police have just released this picture of the woman rebecca ikumelo. two other people remain in critical

condition in hospital. 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. these were the out of control scenes on thursday from what is believed to be 1000 people tried to get into the concert by asake. the concert was a sell out. despite his request that people without tickets stay away, hundreds and more still came. the pushing, shoving, trampling, led to three people being critically hurt. you could see two people out here getting treatment from the police, giving cpr. it was awful to see someone who went out for a night of fun and they end up not spending christmas with their family.

this morning, rebecca ikumelo died from her injuries. she was 33. two others remain critically ill. the debris still lines the street and police cordons remain in place. all day police officers from the met�*s specialist crime command have been working here at the site, trying to figure out what happened, what went so badly wrong to cause this tragedy. asake has released a statement, speaking of his devastation at rebecca ikumelo�*s death. with so many people at the venue, police think they have 4,000 potential witnesses and they're keen to hear from them. they especially want images people took, in the hope they will offer clues. a special web—site has been set up so people can submit footage and photographs.

ukraine's energy operator says the ninth wave of strikes, on friday, has caused continuing, significant power shortages. the governor of the northeastern region of kharkiv says power has is continuing elsewhere, including the capital, kyiv. our correspondent hugo bachego reports from the capital. we had an update from the mayor of kyiv who says water has now been restored as parts of the city remain without electricity and heating. and all day this thick fog has covered kyiv and that makes it difficult for residents who remain without electricity and heating. power has also been restored in kharkiv, the country's second largest city. the authorities say russia launched 76 missiles in this ninth wave of air strikes, targeting essential infrastructure. they say 60 of those missiles were intercepted by air defence but more than a dozen hit facilities

across the country. they say russia is using winter as a weapon with those attacks and last night president zelensky said russia still had enough missiles to carry out more heavy strikes, but he said this campaign would fail and he said the ukrainians are determined to resist. the kremlin says president putin spent friday holding meetings with the military commanders who are running russia's war in ukraine. his visit to operational headquarters came a day after kyiv said moscow was planning a broad offensive early in the new year. russia's suffered a string of defeats on the ground in ukraine recently, with only minor advances in the east. but for more than two months, it's been targetting ukraine's energy infrastructure intensively with missiles and explosive drones. the headlines on bbc news...

train passengers in the uk face further delays today, as the rmt union continue their 48—hour strike — only one in five services are expected to operate. queues at beijing crematoria and school closures in shanghai as virus cases soar after the lifting of china's zero—covid policy. work is continuing to restore electricity and heating in parts of ukraine — after a wave of russian airstrikes hits infrastructure. croatia have won third place in the world cup in qatar. the playoff match in doha today finished 2—1, with morocco going home in fourth place. morocco is the only african team in world cup history to reach the semifinals. croatia was the runner—up in the 2018 world cup, losing to france. hospitals in england have been told to free up beds and prepare for �*extensive disruption�* ahead of planned strikes by ambulance workers next week. nhs leaders have written to managers to warn that it will be a very challenging period.

they said medically fit patients should be moved out where it's safe to do so, and the turnaround of ambulances should be speeded up. members of unison, unite and the gmb will walk out in much of england, wales and northern ireland in a dispute about pay and staffing levels. our political correspondent jonathan blake told us more about the preparations for next week's walkouts. this letter going to hospitals across england urges them to get systems in place where they can effectively get patients in from ambulances to a&e and then on from there to the rest of the hospital and discharged as quickly as possible. the reason being is ambulances would then be able to get back on the road as quickly as possible. because there will not be as many, they will be overstretched or not able to respond to as many call—outs as quickly as they normally would do. it all sounds perfectly well and good, but emergency doctors and other voices in the nhs have said, of course we will try and do that, but it is hard enough

at the best of times, given how stretched the capacity is, given how hard it is to discharge people sometimes because the social care situation means there is not the appropriate place for them to go to. that is why we are hearing these warnings, a very challenging period in the nhs from within the health service itself, but also from government. oliver dowden, the cabinet office minister in charge of contingency planning in government, his response to this has talked about big risks associated with the ambulance worker strikes and a significant period of disruption. what is the latest government line on how to resolve the strikes? well, there is no movement from the government's position. they are saying we are happy to talk to the unions, we want to do that, but only about issues beyond pay itself, so working conditions, technology, all sorts of other things, which the royal college of nursing and others say they are peripheral

to the main issue of pay. the government has said we are sticking to the recommendation of the independent pay review body, which has put forward this 4.75% offer on average to nhs staff, with a guaranteed minimum of £1,400. the union said it is not enough, it needs to be at inflation or more because they have had successive pay freezes, which means workers have seen a real terms pay cut. hundreds of people turned out for a vigilforfour young boys, who died after falling through a frozen lake in solihull last sunday. eight—year—old finlay butler, and his six—year—old brother samuel, their cousin, thomas stewart — who was 11 — and 10—year—old jackjohnson were discovered in icy waters at babbs mill park in solihull. the council there has raised concerns about children being seen on frozen water in other places in recent days. here's natasha turney in solihull it was a very poignant and emotional gathering today. this whole area

filled with nearly 1000 people who gathered to share in their outpouring of support and sadness over the deaths of the four boys here at babbs mill park. they gathered for a two—minute silence before that was broken by the sinking of a local choir. many people very visibly upset, in tears due to that in gathering here to lay more tribute at the memorial and blooms are laid as well for the four boys. many i spoke to wanted to show their love and support for the family. didn't necessarily know them but wanted them to know that they were thinking of them at the special and very difficult time. many people still gathered here tonight wanting to show they are being thought of here. turning down your boiler, unplugging appliances and using a draught excluder are all tips included

in a government campaign to help bring down energy bills. our climate editorjustin rowlatt spent the morning with the energy secretary grant shapps to find out what he does in his own home. the government's £18 million effort to get us all to save energy begins today and this is a bit unusual, i have been invited around to the secretary of state for business and energy�*s home to discuss the campaign. hi. how are you? very good. thanks for having us round. it's cold out there. right energy—saving tips? yeah. the government says draught proofing your doors and windows could save £60 a year and then there's your boiler. lots of boilers are just set to max as this one is at the moment. they don't need to be. this isjust a question of turning it down. they say about 60. that could save £100. the government also recommends turning off appliances at the plug, potentially saving another £70 and also turn off

radiators in empty rooms. it is hoped the campaign and website will help us save money and cut our carbon footprint and also cut millions from the government's energy support for consumers. well we have been putting money into people's bank account, most people will be getting £400 back. but these are things that people can do yourself. but these are things you can do for yourself that we have discovered in most homes haven't been done. 200 or 300 pounds off your billjust by doing these simple steps. this campaign represents a policy reversal. former prime minister liz truss blocked plans for a similar effort when she was prime minister. justin rowlatt bbc news, hatfield. in the irish republic, leo varadkar has been voted in as the new prime minister. mr varadkar, who has been the deputy prime minister, swaps roles with the taoiseach micheal martin as part of an historic coalition agreement, made injune 2020.

earlier, our ireland correspondent chris page gave us his analysis. it's a swap at the top that has never been done before. the two parties that dominated irish politics through most of the last century, fianna fail led by micheal martin, fine gael now led by leo varadkar went into government together for the first time. and when you consider that those parties grew out of different factions in the irish civil war 100 years ago, well, it does make it all the more remarkable. so, voluntarily today, micheal martin has handed over the most importantjob in ireland to leo varadkar. the proceedings took about two and a half hours in the irish parliament here in dublin. mr martin formally resigned. he, as you would expect, went through what he saw as his list of achievements, not least leading ireland through the covid pandemic. and then members of the parliament voted in mr varadkar to take over as taoiseach for the second half of this coalition government's term. mr varadkar has now left here, gone to see the irish president

michael d higgins in his official residence in phoenix park in the north of the city. but he will be coming back here later on this afternoon where there will be some sort of cabinet reshuffle. and it is thought that micheal martin will retain a very prominent role in the government as deputy prime minister. he will be given charge of the department of foreign affairs. basically, he will become ireland's chief diplomat. that of course will be particularly important in the context of negotiations between the uk and the eu, still ongoing, over the brexit arrangements for northern ireland. 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 twenty 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.

hello there, looks like this bitterly cold spell of weather is coming to an enduring part two of the weekend. wetter windy weather will spread on saturday and we are likely to see a transient spell of ice and snow through central and northern areas. the met office have issued an amber warning for ice across northern england, particularly around pennine routes and even to lower levels as well and is likely to see significant disruption on sunday. rain and sleet fall on freezing surfaces giving rise to very slippy conditions on roads and pavements for a time. in the short term, this evening and overnight will be cold across the country, particularly northern,

central and eastern areas. signs of the weather from pushing central and eastern areas. signs of the weatherfrom pushing into central and eastern areas. signs of the weather from pushing into the south with stronger winds. temperatures recovering here but another bitterly cold night elsewhere. with the cold air in place and with this wet and windy weather moving up from the south, it's going to be the recipe for this ice and snow risk. a transient risk. you can see the orange colours, the milder air in you can see the orange colours, the milderair in the you can see the orange colours, the milder air in the south—west feeding north and eastward through the course of the day but it will take its time. initially we will have rain across southern and western areas but as this rain bumped into the cold air we could see winteryness over north wales, midlands northwards and it is this area of northern england where we area of northern england where we are likely to see the worst of the ice. we are likely to see some snow falling of the hills, the southern uplands, and grampians late in the day. it will be much milder across the south and the west by the end of the south and the west by the end of the afternoon. through sunday night, watch the milder air, the orange colours creep away north. by monday

morning it will feel very different. temperatures in double figures across england, wales and northern ireland. chilly in scotland but much milder than it has been. a very different feel to the weather monday, it will also feel different that it will be cloudy, windy with gales around the southern and western coasts and outbreaks of heavy rain. low cloud across south western areas and that is rain combined with the snow and ice melt. mid—teens across many areas on monday. it stays generally mild and unsettled across the board. signs of something called a nudging to the north of the uk for the christmas period, but stay tuned.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. train passengers in the uk face further delays today, as the rmt union continue their 48—hour strike as part of a long—running row over jobs, pay and conditions. only one in five services are expected to operate. covid cases soar in china following the lifting of the government's strict lockdown measures, resulting in queues rising at crematoria in beijing and shanghai closing most of its schools and ordering pupils to take classes online. russian attacks on ukraine's power grid plunge millions into darkness. work is continuing to restore electricity and heating as russian president vladimir putin meets with military chiefs in the headquarters of the country's special military operation.

a 33—year—old woman who died after being injured in a crush at a gig on thursday at london's o2 academy brixton