this is bbc news, i'm monika plaha. our top stories: ukraine's president zelensky tells a joint meeting of the us congress in washington that his nation's struggle for freedom is for the future of the whole world. we don't have to know everyone�*s wish, as we know that all of us, millions of ukrainians, wish the same. victory. only victory. applause at the white house, president biden announces almost $2 billion worth of further military aid for ukraine, including patriot missile defence systems. meanwhile, in moscow, president putin tells the military there is no limit to the funds available

for the russian offensive. the world health organization issues a stark warning about the worsening covid situation in china as cases continue to rise. and sam bankman—fried, the founder of the collapsed crypto exchange ftx, is extradited to the us from the bahamas to face fraud charges. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the president of ukraine, volodomyrzelensky, has received the red carpet treatment in washington, dramatically flying in from a warzone to meet president biden at the white house. it's his first overseas trip since russia invaded ukraine in february. america is kyiv�*s most

important ally, and today president biden told ukraine that the united states "will stay with you as long as it takes", pledging another military aid package worth around $1.85 billion. a little earlier, president zelensky also addressed both chambers of congress on capitol hill. he received several standing ovations. the battle continues and we have to defeat the kremlin on the battlefield, yes. these battles not only for the territory, for this and other parts of europe, the battle is not only for life, freedom and security of ukrainians or any other nation which russia attempts to conquer. this struggle will define in what world our children and grandchildren will live, and then their children and grandchildren. it will define whether it will be a democracy of ukrainians and for americans, for all.

well, mr zelensky said russian attacks will not stop ukrainians from celebrating the holiday season. we will celebrate christmas. celebrate christmas, and even if there is no electricity, light of our faith, in ourselves, will not be put out. applause. if russian missiles attack us, we will do our best to protect ourselves. if they attack us with iranian drones and our people have to go to bomb shelters on christmas eve, ukrainians will still sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other, and we don't have to know everyone�*s wish, as we know that all of us, millions of ukrainians, wish the same. victory. only victory.

our correspondent barbara plett usher was on capitol hill when the president gave his address to congress. it was about not just about ukraine but about the wider world and america and he kept bringing it back to america. at one point, he said you can't expect what is happening across the ocean not to affect you at some point because this is about bigger issues like sovereignty and democracy. he thanked the americans or thejoint session several times for everything they had given but you will notice he, of course, asked for more, and at a certain point, he turned it into a joke, as he did with president biden earlier, he said "thank you for the patriots, we need more weapons", he laughed and everybody knows what they want, "thanks for the financial assistance, it has "made a difference but we hope you will make another decision for more financial assistance. "

in the midst of the talk about how this is a bigger issue thanjust ukraine, in the midst of being thankful for the great support congress has shown, he continued to put forward his requests, that that support would continue into the next year. barbara referenced america's military aid to ukraine there and president biden made this announcement after talks with president zelensky. i'm announcing the next tranche of our security assistance to ukraine, $1.85 billion of security assistance, it includes both direct transfer of equipment that ukraine needs as well as contracts to supply ammunition ukraine will need in the months ahead for its artillery, its tanks and its rocket launchers. critically, in addition to these new capabilities like precision aerial munitions, the package will include a patriot missile battery which we will train

ukrainian forces to operate as part of the ongoing effort to help bolster the ukraine's air defence. it's going to take some time to complete the necessary training but the patriot battery will be another critical asset for ukraine as it defends itself against russian aggression. well, earlier, ispoke to michael o'hanlon, who's a senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the brookings institution. i began by asking him to describe the significance of this visit. president zelenskyy is an extraordinary leader and human being. he captured the different themes he needed to tonight but let's keep it in perspective. i was watching this on the bbc and the cable news networks covered it, but the main news networks did not. it's an issue that's important to americans the context of covid and a global economic downturn and everything else so there

is a fair amount, strong amount of bipartisan support and president biden was right to emphasise that and emphasise the unity between north america and europe. however, it does not tell us whether what is going in 2023 and the idea of unconditional victory and supporting zelensky at all costs will be a debate for the new year because it's going to get complicated. i was thrilled by this speech, i was very happy to see that president zelensky came to washington, got the support from united states and our nato and european partners but a long slog ahead. president biden said to president zelensky that we will stay with you as long as it takes. what message do you think this is giving russia now and the rest of the world? i'm not sure what it means to say we will stay ukraine as long as it takes.

we should certainly stay with ukraine to protect the sovereignty and survival of that country and people. does that mean that we always give them whatever they want and want to do in the crimea or the eastern donbas? if the war stalemates in the summer of 2023 and they recovered or won back half the territory russia has stolen from them, does that mean we still support them to get back the other half, these will be very complex decisions for 2023 and it's sort of talking points now because morally speaking, strategically speaking, zielinski is right, president biden is right, we need to support this course. but if it bogs down next year, if we get to a point where there is the stalemate and we're trying to figure out how to create a stable peace, is complete ukrainian victory the only acceptable outcome with every inch of territory being recovered 7 i'm not so sure. there was a lot of focus on the patriot, the air defence system which the usa they will provide to ukraine. why is that, do you think,

such a priority for president zelensky? it's today's debate. it is important because it cities are being attacked ruthlessly and readily by russian drones and cruise missiles and other systems. the more we can do to help ukrainians live a semi normal life or at least keeping their resilience going is for the better. i agree with the us decision to provide these weapons and i'm glad president zelensky reinforced his gratitude but he also noted, as your news report pointed out, he does not have quite the artillary force he wants. he does not have quite the tank force nato should provide or airpower that nato might provide but has not so far. he very tactfully and deftly, but still not so subtly, asked for more. i don't blame him. on some of those capabilities he is right to want more.

i do not believe we should give ukrainians long—range strike systems to hit moscow but tanks and a short range airpower to reclaim their territory, that is a good idea. even with that, this war is unlikely to reach a definitive point in 2023. you'll need to think about our options and some of them involve diplomacy and compromise. michael o'hanlon. well, president zelensky�*s trip made headline news in russia too — where news programmes mocked his reliance on western military aid while president putin made a speech to his top defence chiefs, telling them that the invasion was going to plan. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. "comrade officers," the greeting. the occasion — president putin had come to tell chiefs, "i'll give you everything "you need to secure victory in ukraine "and against the west." translation: almost all

the main nato countries l are employing their military capabilities against russia. but our soldiers, sergeants and officers are fighting courageously. confidently, step—by—step, they are tackling the goals they've been set, and these goals will be achieved. meanwhile... ..russia's state media jeered and sneered at president zelensky for flying to washington, claiming he was prostrating himself before america and begging for money. there's a good reason for the bad press. having invaded ukraine, the last thing the kremlin wants is for russians to start viewing president zelensky as much of the world views him — in other words, as a charismatic, courageous, hugely impressive leader. because if they start doing that, who knows how they'll

view their own president. this was vladimir putin on tuesday, at an awards ceremony for his special military operation, in the safety of the kremlin. the same day, president zelensky was visiting the front line. russians are starting to spot the differences. zelensky�*s a modern person, very eloquent, very smart. putin is old, he is old—fashioned. zelensky is an example of the politician for the future. putin will stay in history as a person from the dark past. bells ring but vladimir putin has no intention of being consigned to history. on his stage, there's no room for rivals, competitors. no—one�*s allowed to outshine the leader here.

steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: scottish minsters prepare for a final vote on a controversial gender recognition bill. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states' troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principle objective to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle| was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag - was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth i of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens

when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines — ukraine's president zelensky tells a joint meeting of the us congress in washington that his nation's struggle for freedom is for the future of the whole world. at the white house, president biden announces almost $2 billion worth of further military aid for ukraine, including patriot missile defence systems.

the world health organization says it's concerned over the evolving covid situation in china. the who's chief, dr tedros adanom gabreysus, told a news conference in geneva that the number of severe cases was on the rise. it comes as china reversed its zero—covid policy and stopped most testing and tracing. hospitals, pharmacies and crematoriums in the country all say they are busier than usual. dr tedros called on beijing to provide more data and to urgently step up its vaccination programme. in order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground, who needs more detailed information on the severity, hospital admissions, and requirements for icu support. who is supporting china to focus its efforts on vaccinating people at the highest risk across the country. the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, ftx, is in custody of the fbi,

and being flown to the us. authorities in the bahamas agreed to extradite sam bankman—fried to new york where he faces fraud charges. ftx went bankrupt last month. hilaryj allen is a professor of financial regulation at the american university washington college of law and was an expert witness in the hearing on collapse of crypto currency company ftx last week. a little earlier, i asked her what led to the ftx ex—boss extradiction and how the acquisition against him came about. sam bankman—fried and ftx were basically the golden boy of crypto for a long time, it seemed to be that he was the responsible player in the room, but behind the scenes, ftx was lending its customers' assets to its affiliated hedge fund, alameda. and alameda made a lot of very poor bets and the money disappeared, and it suddenly, through some leaked balance

sheets, it became clear about a month ago that the money was no longer there, and it all unravelled. it has been described as one of the biggest financial frauds in us history, so what has the impact on the victims and those that have suffered in this, and essentially where does it leave them now? the victims are basically in a position where they don't know where they are because it's unclear how many assets the combined ftx—alameda group still has to distribute to the people who thought that their money was safe with the exchange. what we know for sure is that we won't be seeing money anytime soon because bankruptcy proceedings take a long time. the mt gox, which was another crypto exchange, failed many years ago and it is still distributing assets. no doubt a lot of uncertainty and frustration there, so where does this leave us regulators in regulating crypto in the future?

well, that's the big question, what do we do now? you know, there are concerns about giving the crypto industry the regulation that it was looking for. so prior to ftx's failure, sam bankman—fried, as i said, was the golden boy of crypto, was lobbying very heavily for bespoke regulator regimes that would help crypto thrive. and now, ironically, with his fall from grace, there have been some renewed pressures to enact that very legislation that he was championing. i don't think that's what's going to happen, but we need to be careful about the type of regulation that's applied. we don't want regulation that's going to allow crypto to continue to go as it's going because that doesn'tjust hurt the investors themselves, it could potentially hurt the financial system as a whole if it becomes integrated with the traditional financial system. and let's talk about sam now, are you surprise sam agreed to being extradited to face these charges in the united states? i mean, i don't know him personally. he has been very vocal about his thought processes all through this, more vocal than anyone expected to be,

i think, including his lawyers. yeah, he's an unpredictable character, so nothing surprises me anymore. let's get some of the day's other news. israel's prime minister designate — benyamin netanyahu says he has successfully formed a new coalition, which looks set to be the country's most right—wing government ever. he has spent weeks wrangling with his coalition partners in two ultra—orthodox jewish parties and an ultra—nationalist religious alliance. doctors treating the former brazilian football star, pele, say he will remain in hospital during christmas, because his cancer has advanced. pele was diagnosed with colon cancer three years ago, but his health has deteriorated. he won three world cups

with the brazilian national team, and is widely regarded as the best football player of all time. in the latest wave of industrial action in the uk this winter, thousands of ambulance workers including paramedics and call handlers have been on strike in england and wales. they want a pay rise above inflation and a change to working conditions. hundreds of members of the armed forces were drafted in to help. the united nations security council has for the first time adopted a resolution calling for myanmar�*s military government to end political violence in the country. the security council also called for the immediate release of all political prisoners, including the ousted prime minister, aung san suu chi. tom brada reports. for almost two years, myanmar has been in crisis. in february, 2021, the army seized power. a civilian protest movement opposed the coup, but the regime has been

ruthless in crushing opposition. now the united nations security council has approved a resolution demanding an immediate end to violence. with this adoption, the council has responded to the calls of asean leaders for un support for their efforts. the resolution calls for the cessation of violence. india, china and russia abstained from voting, and the is—member security council has long been split on how to act, but the situation in myanmar is stark. more than 2,000 people are estimated to have been killed since the army took over. and more than 16,000 detained on political charges. among them is the ousted leader aung san suu chi, who is facing more than 20 years in prison. the security council is demanding the release of all political prisoners, and myanmar has welcomed the move, but it is also calling for a stronger response. decisive action by the security council is needed to save the lives of the people of myanmar and prevent further

destabilisation of the region. there is an ongoing state of emergency in myanmar, with the military regime there keen to strengthen its grip on power. the un will hope this resolution can kick—start a dialogue and the possibility of peace. tom brada, bbc news. members of the scottish parliament have been debating plans to make it easier to change gender legally. the scottish government says the legislation will ensure dignity for trans people, but critics say it's a threat to women and girls. the bbc�*s scotland editorjames cook has been following events. yeah, i came out as trans when i was 18. and i was really lucky, all of my friends and family were so supportive. it was a really positive experience for me.

ellie gomersall is now 23. she's been trying — and failing — to change the sex on her birth certificate for nearly five years. i often joke that the hardest thing about being trans is the admin, and there is definitely truth in that. i mean, certainly, to apply for a gender recognition certificate can be so costly, it can have so much admin related to it, which can be really, really stressful. how important is this legislation to you? i think that this legislation is actually going to be transformational. i think, ultimately, the only person who can really describe my own identity, my own gender, is me. i promise you, we will keep fighting. at holyrood, a very different view — from feminists furious and fearful about what will happen if anyone born male can simply declare themselves to be a woman. a lot of this involves the total acceptance of the premise that sex is not real and that it's a feeling, and that sex doesn't matter, and as women's rights

campaigners, we cannot accept that. people who would argue in favour of this bill say that this is actually about protecting a group of people who are especially vulnerable. i think that some of the most vulnerable people are people like women in prison or women in domestic shelters or women who have been raped — i think they are vulnerable. the passage of this bill has been far from smooth. as the debate began, the minister in charge sought to soothe concerns. the threat to women and girls is from predatory and abusive men and there is no suggestion that such predatory and abusive men have ever needed to apply for a legal gender recognition to carry out their behaviour. the lights will temporarily go out at midnight. as the night wore on, msps were still squabbling about procedure when this happened. day two, and while conservatives have led the charge against this bill, the snp is not without its rebels.

i am very, very sad to say that the message sent out to women and girls in scotland today is that you do not matter. i will vote as if women do matter, i will be voting against the bill. applause. when trans people are under attack, what do we do? trans rights activists have been here this week too, fighting for the bill's passage. victory could well be theirs tomorrow, but even then opponents, including the uk government, may try to challenge this new law in court. this is an issue which attracts real passion, real anger, and that may be because, for those in favour and against the legislation, it's notjust a political issue, it's notjust a legal issue, but a moral one. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @monikaplaha hello, there. the next few days are looking fairly unsettled through the run—up to christmas. we'll keep low pressure nearby, so i think large parts of the country will see rain at times, a bit of sunshine here and there, and it will be mild in the south, but it'll start to turn colder across northern areas. you can see this conveyor system of low pressure pushing up from the southwest, bringing in bands of rain, followed by sunshine and showers. and our air mass coming in from the southwest off the atlantic will always be warmer, certainly across the south of the country. colder air, though, will start to tuck in across the north, as we move through the next few days. for thursday, looks like it will be colder across northern scotland — breezy with a few showers, but quite a bit of sunshine for scotland, northern ireland, the far north of england. england and wales, though, rather

cloudy, misty, murky, with some patchy rain and drizzle, some heavier rain into the southwest later in the day. here, it will be mild, quite breezy. further north, though, a chillier feel to things, but at least we'll have the sunshine to compensate. as we move through thursday night, it stays blustery, further showers across the north, these wintry over the hills. further south, it'll be quieter — a mixture of clear spells, some cloud, but then some heavier rain and stronger winds will start to push into the southwest later on, along with some milder air. but a chillier night to come across the northern half of the country. so, for friday, then, a chilly start, some sunshine across northern areas, a few wintry showers over the hills of scotland, then this band of rain starts to push northwards across england and wales. some of this rain could be quite heavy and persistent for a while as it pushes its way northwards. doesn't reach scotland until we move through friday night. however, there'll be a big temperature contrast — some brighter weather in the south with a few showers, very mild, staying quite chilly despite the sunshine across the north. then, as we move into christmas eve, that weather front pushes northwards, some snow on the hill if as it does so. then, for christmas eve,

christmas day, we're in a run of milder southwesterly winds, sunshine and showers. but then, later on christmas day into boxing day, we start to see some colder air work its way southwards across the country from the northwest, and with the winds coming in from the northwest, this is likely to see most of the snow showers on christmas day across the north and the west of scotland. one or two wintry showers getting into irish sea coasts, as well. you can see the trend — it turns colder for all areas as we move through the christmas period, but i think it'll be short—lived, as it will start to turn milder once again in the run—up to new year's eve. don't forget, you can check out the bbc weather app for where you are, or where you're going. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, has told a joint session of the us congress that the war in ukraine is a fight for the freedom of the world. in his speech, he thanked the us for its support, saying it was an investment in the future. earlier, at a white house meeting, joe biden praised the bravery of the ukrainian people. the us president also pledged america's continued support for kyiv. the patriot air defence missile system will form part of a $115 billion aid package. the world health organization has said it's concerned over the worsening covid situation in china. the number of cases has continued to rise after china reversed its zero—covid policy

and stopped most testing and tracing.