this is bbc news with the headlines.... queues at beijing crematoria and school closures in shanghai as virus cases soar after the lifting of china's zero—covid policy. ukraine has restored power to almost 6 million people after massive russian strikes against its electricity generating system. 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.

hello and welcome to bbc news. china is seeing an explosion of positive covid cases, just 10 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. our asia pacific editor celia hatton says it's become difficult to keep track of the number of cases. even the chinese authorities admit 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 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 mentioned 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. 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 targeting ukraine's energy infrastructure intensively with missiles and explosive drones, causing extensive power outages. there's been more disruption for train passengers in the uk on the last weekend before christmas. only 20% of services are operating as rail workers continue strike action in an ongoing dispute about pay and working conditions. our correspondent ramzan karmali reports. we will be calling at... this train may be moving, but only 20% of services are running

today and it is a service that commuters are getting used to. striking the week before christmas is harsh, but at the same time f that is what they feel like they need to do. i appreciate they have got a case, but it is affecting a lot of people. i can take shivering in the cold, but some people can't. this dispute is about pay and conditions and though talks are ongoing, the boss of the rmt union said union was needed from all sides. obviously this strike action is on now and we are hopeful in the days to come we will have more discussions. if they're willing to compromise and take a few steps forward, we will see what we can develop. it needs them to move off their positions that we have already rejected. today is the second day of the latest walk out this week.

more industrial action is planned to start at 6pm on christmas eve until 6am on 27th and two further 48 hour strikes are scheduled to affect services next month. the last thing the retail sector needed was another train strike. yet they're not the only sector that is suffering. restaurants, bars, hotels, all have seen cellation rates go up and their profits hit. the one thing they need this christmas is a quick resolution to this dispute. this is the most important week for me of the whole year, yesterday i was in london and we had half the foot fall we normally have from the day trippers. the rail delivery group which represents train companies said it was hopeful a resolution could be found. but whether this dispute will be resolved soon remains unclear. ramzan karmali, bbc news.

i'm joined now by the ceo of the night time industries association, michael kill. the night—time industries association, tell us about who you represent and how they are being impacted by this latest leave of strikes? irate impacted by this latest leave of strikes? ~ , , , , ,, , strikes? we represent the businesses that 0 erate strikes? we represent the businesses that operate within _ strikes? we represent the businesses that operate within the _ strikes? we represent the businesses that operate within the ecosystem - that operate within the ecosystem between 6pm and 6am in the morning. and as you can appreciate what this tree strike and cost inflation, we have been hit catastrophically from all sides. after three years of very challenging times through the pandemic, past inflation and now for the third year running some challenges around the christmas period which is critical for us to make the money so that we can build up make the money so that we can build up our cash reserves in move into the new year. what we are seeing is around a 30% downturn in trade linked to christmas booking

cancellations reduction in party sizes, but some of the feedback that we have had from last night moving into this evening is some businesses are reporting up to a 50% drop in trade which will be catastrophic for their survival in the new year. what their survival in the new year. what does that mean _ their survival in the new year. what does that mean a _ their survival in the new year. what does that mean a 5096 _ their survival in the new year. what does that mean a 50% drop in trade? what does that mean for the liability for those companies that you represent, can they continue if this continues if the strengths continue? ., . , this continues if the strengths continue? ., ., , , ., this continues if the strengths continue?— this continues if the strengths continue? ., ., ,, . ., continue? no, as you can appreciate cost inflation — continue? no, as you can appreciate cost inflation is _ continue? no, as you can appreciate cost inflation is really _ continue? no, as you can appreciate cost inflation is really taking - continue? no, as you can appreciate cost inflation is really taking a - cost inflation is really taking a hold and we are being squeezed on all sides from suppliers passing on those increased operating costs, to the front line businesses to the consumer having less disposable income so prior into the festive. saw a 50% downturn in trade but we are seeing a 30 — 40% decrease in costs —— increase and now we are seeing big hits during the critical period which is the gold importer

which will compromise many businesses moving into 2023. the particular businesses that will be hit are the smes and the independents once they do not have the cash fluidity and our operating hand to mouth given that they have really been financially squeezed over the last few years. is really been financially squeezed over the last few years. is there any sympathy — over the last few years. is there any sympathy from _ over the last few years. is there any sympathy from the - over the last few years. is there i any sympathy from the companies over the last few years. is there - any sympathy from the companies that you represent the of what the rail unions, rack or one in particular? i think the feeling is men people are talking about this is gone on too long, weaver connects the challenges of cost devotional around we have been one of the biggest industries that have been hardest hit will be also recognise the government's part in all this from the pandemic, talking about brexit and then also moving on to cost inflation, energy and the announcement of the budget that really crush the markets. so for us, there are huge frustrations across many sectors but none are compromised as much as we are in

terms of people's mobility and the impacts of strike action has on restaurants, bars, casinos, and businesses that we represent. {eat}. businesses that we represent. ceo, thank ou businesses that we represent. ceo, thank you for _ businesses that we represent. ceo, thank you for giving _ businesses that we represent. ceo, thank you for giving across the point of companies that you represent. doctors are warning that a plan to free up hospital beds to mitigate wednesday's strike by ambulance workers will be "really difficult" to achieve. nhs england hopes that by discharging as many patients as safely as possible, handover times will be kept to a minimum. the walkout about pay will affect virtually all of england and wales. ministers say the wage offer they've made to ambulance workers has been recommended independently. i'm joined now by the health policy analyst and former nhs trust boss who has run hospitals during strikes, roy lilley. when we were speaking to dame

anne—marie, professor at king's couege anne—marie, professor at king's college london, former president of the royal college of nursing he was speaking to us in a independent capacity but he is describing the idea, the ability to unblock those bedsis idea, the ability to unblock those beds is really difficult. it's not feasible at the best of times, so what you make of nhs england motivation and its ability to get these doctors to free up the specs? i think they are just trying to look busy. the guidance has landed badly on a service that already, every day of the week for the last year has been trying to clear beds and make room in a any so that ambulance can discharge so it is a foolish thing to say the difficulty is is the nhs is one week long production line people getting sick in one and and healthy fit and people coming out of the other. if you get anything in the other. if you get anything in the middle that disturbs that

patient flow, you have a problem. so patient flow, you have a problem. so patient flow, you have a problem. so patient flow at the moment is being caused by two things the first is the capacity, the pots hospitals are not big enough. we haven't built enough hospitals and secondly difficulty is in social care, social services have huge budget carts about 160,000 vacancies it does not pay people very well and domiciliary care is not very well—paid either so it means a quarter of the people that are on nhs warts are medically radically to be sent home but they are not fit enough to be sent home without help and support from social care. see you get these backlog on the wards, that means a&e cannot discharge people and put them onto the words and that means ambulances cannot discharge from there patients from the back there cab and the whole thing just backs up. on a strict day it might be different in

that the ambulances look like they will only be picking up category one calls, category one are life—threatening or where someone has thought reading or something like that. that could mean that there are fewer ambulances come on there are fewer ambulances come on the other hand it means a lot of people will be making their own way to a&e and the back of taxis, cars whatever they will do. so numbers really know what will happen we have never had a strike like this before bear might also come on the previous day the nurses will have had their stricken dave strike as well so there will be a hangover from that —— second day. people working in the nhs know what they will do and they don't need guidance from nhs england. we don't need guidance from nhs encland. ~ ., ., ., don't need guidance from nhs encland. ~ . ., ., ~ england. we are out of time. a former nhs — england. we are out of time. a former nhs trust _ england. we are out of time. a former nhs trust boss, - england. we are out of time. a former nhs trust boss, thankl england. we are out of time. a - former nhs trust boss, thank you. more coverage on our website as well.

a 33—year—old woman has died after being injured in the crush at a concert at london's brixton o2 academy on thursday. the met police have released this picture of the woman rebecca ikumelo. two other people remain in critical condition in hospital. the concert, by singer ashakay, had to be abandoned pa rt—way through. the met police say a "large number of people" tried to force their way inside. here's matt cole reporting. these were the out of control seems on thursday night what has believed to bend over thousand people had tried to force their way in. the concert the third of three here was a sell—out. but despite the request that people without tickets stay away, he posted online before the show hundreds and more still came. the pushing, shoving, trembling lead to three people being critically hurt. ., u. , to three people being critically hurt. ., , , hurt. you could see the people here caettin to hurt. you could see the people here getting to treatment _ hurt. you could see the people here getting to treatment from _ hurt. you could see the people here getting to treatment from the - getting to treatment from the police giving cpr to the young lady. it was

pretty awful to see someone who went out for a night of fun and ended up not spending christmas with their friends and family. this not spending christmas with their friends and family.— not spending christmas with their friends and family. this morning she died from her _ friends and family. this morning she died from her injuries. _ friends and family. this morning she died from her injuries. she - friends and family. this morning she died from her injuries. she was - friends and family. this morning she died from her injuries. she was 33 i died from her injuries. she was 33 and from east london. two others remain critically ill. the debrief from the chaos here on thursday night still lines the street and police court insist remained in place. all they officers from the met 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. he has released a statement speaking of the devastation of her death and he has asked that people keep herfamily in their death and he has asked that people keep her family in their prayers. with so many people act in around the venue here on thursday detective think they have as many as 4000 potential witnesses and are keen to hear from them. potential witnesses and are keen to hearfrom them. especially potential witnesses and are keen to hear from them. especially when images people took on the night in

the hope that they will offer clues as to how events unfolded. a special website has been set up people can submit their footage and photographs. hundreds of people turned out for a vigilforfour young boys, who died after falling through a frozen lake in solihull last sunday. 8—year—old finlay butler, and his 6 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. 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. there is then another £900, because we are 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 iran, the well known film actress taraneh alidoosti has been arrested, as anti—government protests continue into a fourth month. an iranian news agency said ms alidoosti, who's best known for her starring role in the oscar winning iranian film, the salesman, was detained for publishing what it called false and distorted content and inciting chaos. ms alidoosti publicly condemned the first execution of a protester earlier this month.

campaigners gathered on the beach in folkestone this morning calling for the government to provide safe routes for migrants trying to reach the uk. it follows the deaths of four people attempting to cross the channel in a small boat earlier this week. nickjohnson reports. a sombre gathering followed by a rallying cry. everyone of you that is here today is with me in saying enough is enough, no more deaths. people of all ages braved the bitter weather to remember those who lost their lives crossing the channel earlier this week. but it is also a call for change in government approach. it is a political decision not to offer safe routes. it is forcing people to take these perilous journeys and ultimately people are dying. this whole system seems inhumane and there are better ways to solve it which could stop deaths. we are asking people in france be given paperwork which means

they can get a ferry, some kind of safe route that brings them across without them having to get into a small boat. we need to be giving everybody that need sanctuary one route to safety. both campaigners and the government want to avoid more scenes like this. the conservative mp for ashford, damian green, said the government should consider setting up new routes for those seeking asylum. they have to be from places where people are in genuine fear of persecution, which is what asylum is for. rather than simply i could have a better life in this country. this man arrived in the uk from iraq 20 years ago and knows what it means to flee oppression. it is not easy to leave your country, this is a journey between life and death. the home office says nobody should be putting their lives at risk by making these dangerous crossings

and people to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. campaigners hope this protest draws a line under any further loss of life in the channel. 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. mr varadkar was taoiseach previously, from 2017 until the last general election in 2020. and i think it is fair to say that some unionists in northern ireland thought he was a bit too aggressive when it came to brexit matters. in their view, he would have been pretty nationalistic, so he may have a bit of a job there in rebuilding trust. croatia have secured third place at the world cup in qatar, beating morocco two—one in a tightly fought and exciting match. morocco still made history by becoming the first african or arab nation to make it to the semi—final, where they lost to france. croatia were the runners—up in the 2018 world cup. tomorrow france will be defending their title against challengers argentina. lisa leroux is a french footballjournalist —— she's in paris for the big

match this weekend. we're just hoping that we can win the title back to back and make history. i think it'll be a very, very tough match. i think argentina and lionel messi will give it their all, like he said. it's his last world cup match ever. so i think it will be very tough, but i think if any team can beat them, it is france. so i'm confident. and let's face it, with mbappe on board, just absolutely stunning football that we've been seeing from him, givenjust how young he is as well. yes, definitely. he's at his peak at the moment and he just wants the world to see him shine like he said. he wants to win everything. he wants to break records and he wants to be compared to king pele, as he said. and so he wants to get that second world cup and try to go for that third one, which pele has. oh, my goodness. it's going to be fascinating to watch tomorrow. but in terms of the build up to it, of course, i mean, there was so much excitement across france when they were playing morocco. what's the atmosphere like now in the build

up to the final tomorrow? it's very festive. the christmas lights have just come out. so it's definitely a different atmosphere from 2018, from a summer final. but it is still very festive. i think the flags have sold out most of the stores, so people are feeling very patriotic and really confident in this team. people are rallying behind this team. so i think most of the cafes will be full tomorrow. ideally, there's a lot of excitement. but, you know, argentina, messi, not bad, huh? yeah. it's definitely a final that people wanted to see. it's going to be incredible football. and like i said, it'll be very, very tough match. leo messi wants to win this. he wants to become the greatest of all time and to be able to say that he wants to win that world cup trophy and he also wants to win maybe another ballon d'or. there's a lot of talk that the player between him and messi

and mbappe who wins the world cup, will go on to win the ballon d'or. so there's a lot at stake. i think they will give it their all. but this french team also wants to make history. so it will make for great football and we'll see what happens. just time to tell you some breaking news coming into the bbc news for now, a 160 migrants who try to reach england were rescued from waters in the channel overnight. this is friday into saturday and this is according to the regional maritime officials and they are being quoted on the afp news agency 160 migrants who were trying to come to england have been rescued, they were taken to the port of calais and of course,

this is after the deaths that we saw earlier on this week. so just a developing story we will keep an eye on that if we get any more info from that let's cross over and see what the weather is doing. hello, there, we are finally expecting to see and enter the cold spell which has been with us for a long time but as we change from cold to mild with wet and windy weather moving northwards, we are likely to see a spell of transient ice and snow which could cause disruption in places throughout even to lower levels as well. we were likely to see some significant disruption to the day on sunday as rain and sleet fall luhansk freezing services giving rise to very slippery conditions on roads and pavements for time. in the short term, this evening and overnight will be a very cold water across the country particularly central northern and eastern areas signs about that with a front beginning to push into the south. temperatures

are covering here another bitterly cold night elsewhere. with that cold air in place and with this wet and windy weather moving up from the south it will be the recipe for this ice and snow will stop certainly transit risk. mild air already in the south west gradually feeding its way north and eastwards through the course of the day but it will take its time. initially we will have rain across southern and western areas but as a screen pops into the cold air could see over north wales, northwards and it is this area of northern england that will likely see the worst of the ice. we'll see

see the worst of the ice. we'll see see some snow falling over the hills towards the highlands and the later in the day. and cold day for many particularly when you factor in the wind but already much milder across the south and west. by the end of the afternoon and through sunday night, watch them milder air orange colours peeping their way northwards by monday morning it will feel very different. temperatures and doppler figures across wales and of the island quite chilly in scotland but

this is bbc world 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. hospitals are told to free up beds — ahead of ambulance staff going on strike in england on wednesday. a 33—year—old woman who died after being injured in a crush at a gig on thursday at london's o2 academy brixton is named as rebecca ikumelo — two other women remain in a critical condition. 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