welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... as president zelensky returns to ukraine, our correspondent files a special report from the frontline. but for all the sophisticated weaponry and all the ammunition, this is what it comes down to in the end — men, mud and an enemy which is within rifle range. the us is in for the coldest christmas in four decades as a major winter storm sweeps the country. heated scenes in the scottish parliament as controversial legislation is passed — making it easierfor people to

change their legal gender. and we take a journey through david hockney�*s imagination as he describes his new immersive exhibition. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. hello and welcome to the programme. the kremlin has strongly criticised president zelensky�*s visit to washington, accusing the us of fighting an indirect war against it. in a speech, president putin said a new patriot missile defence system would simply prolong the war, and that russia would find an antidote. the ukrainian leader is now back in ukraine. well, ten months on since the start of the conflict, ukrainian forces have regained some areas taken by russia. but people across the country are without power because of russian aerial attacks, and some are

without family members, killed in the conflict. the bbc has been following one soldier — eugene gromadskyi — as he fights to defend his country at great personal cost. our correspondent quentin sommerville, and camera —journalist darren conway joined him at an undisclosed location, near kupyiansk in the country's east, where fighting continues amid appalling winter conditions. when the enemy is on your doorstep, sacrifices must be made. this is home for a platoon from ukraine's 92nd brigade. they have a few small rooms in an abandoned house. they're crammed in tight. meals are eaten standing up. not that senior lieutenant eugene grabowski gets to spend much time here. he's had only two hours�* sleep, but again needs to head out to the front. there's a russian

counter—attack under way. this war has shaken the world and ukraine, but the 22—year—old lieutenant hasn't wavered. he's been fighting since the war�*s very beginning. when his army veteran father was killed on the first day of the invasion, he didn't falter. this was nine months ago, when i first met eugene at the start of a conflict that would transform him and his country. he'd just recently graduated. he and ukraine were ill prepared. today, eugene and his country bear the scars of lessons learned. there've been a lot of casualties in this war. you've lost a lot of people. do you fear death? translation: the person who is not afraid is already dead. i

if you meet death with open arms, it will avoid you because death loves the brave. that's why i don't think about death. i only think about life — the lives of my comrades and the lives of those in my unit. these are the men who have eugene's back. we stand at the ready in this winter wasteland, exposed to russian firepower and the elements. they're trying to hold a russian breakthrough. there's hardly any cover here, so they move as fast as the cold allows... ..knowing that russian guns will soon find them. explosion. translation: the enemy's positions are being hit by fire. they're trying to advance, but our artillery is helping our infantry with a counteroffensive,

and we will keep fighting until the end. it's our land. it's our blood. time is up. the russians are targeting them. let's go. their aim for now is off, but it's closing in. artillery strikes a nearby tree line. eugene's comrades hit the trenches. there's fierce fighting up ahead. the ukrainians have taken a lot of ground here. but for all the sophisticated weaponry and all the ammunition, this is what it comes down to in the end — men, mud and an enemy which is within rifle range. ukraine is still advancing here, but winter is coming and the next few months are going to be a slow, hard grind.

but in these conditions, it's tough maintaining momentum. when ukrainian soil turns into soup, regaining every step of territory is a slog. translation: we need to work on that village over there. - gunfire. it's one of only a couple of dozen villages still in russian control in kharkiv region. every day is a battle for the upper hand. the road they must travel is dangerous, pitted with russian hits and misses. in the freezing cold, everything is an effort. they've lost men in this route. and the bitterest months

still lie ahead here. movement is spotted. translation: a little bit to the right, - on the corner over there, right behind the hanger. these are the daily battles the men face. today, some ground is won, but tomorrow, it may be lost. and so it repeats as the casualties mount on both sides. translation: to be honest, | there were many comrades who died, who i knew personally. they were ideological people who kept moving forward, who never stopped. but it's a war, so there is no time to be sad. some 13,000 soldiers have already died defending ukraine.

and away from the front, millions more will spend a freezing winter in darkness because of russian missile attacks. and this christmas, it will be candles for the fallen that light the homes of ukrainians. natalia had two heroes in her life. her first, her husband. he was killed on the first day of the war as he defended the city. can you describe your husband to us? what kind of a man was he? translation: he was a patriot. a real patriot of our country. he was...a ukrainian. and natalia's trials are far from over. her other hero

is her only child. she's eugene's mother, the young lieutenant fighting at the front, seen here with 0leg, his father, who died in battle. she has given everything for ukraine. 18 months into this war, do you have a message for other ukrainian mothers? translation: i want to wish them to always believe that l everything will be ok with our children, and to always wait for them. mothers' love is a big power. we need to believe that everything will be fine. surely. quentin somerville, bbc news, kharkiv.

to the united states now — and forecasters say a major winter storm which is sweeping the country this week may bring the coldest christmas in four decades to parts of the country. there has already been major snowfall in many areas. more than 90 million people in 37 states are set to experience sub—zero temperatures, including places as far south as texas. tom brada reports. a fierce winter storm is sweeping across the united states. more than 100 million people are under winter weather alerts, with warnings of ice, snow and freezing winds. at a white house briefing, president biden called for caution. this is really a very serious weather alert here, and it goes from oklahoma all the way to wyoming and maine. it's not like a snow day when you're a kid, this is serious stuff. meteorologists say the winter storm could become a bomb cyclone — an unofficial term

for a certain type of powerful storm which rapidly build in strength. heavy snowfall and strong winds are expected to cause damage and power outages in the midwest and canada. and travel chaos is expected as people had home from christmas, with thousands of flights already cancelled. it's been a little crazy. i got here early to make sure i got my flight. i was doing frontier, and the app never notified me that the flight got cancelled, so i was sitting there next to an hour, and then security told me you got cancelled. so, then i came here, then my other flight from frontier got cancelled. the national weather service has warned temperatures could dip below —45 celsius by the end of the week in some parts of the country. with christmas fast approaching, millions of americans will hope the ferocious cold won't ruin their festive plans. tom brada, bbc news. i've been speaking to

jaden pappenheim from from live storm chasers. he's in south bend, indiana — and he's been telling me about the situation there. i'm in south bend, indiana right now under a blizzard warning. snow has started to fall around four o'clock. conditions are worsening by the minute out here. i've already noted a car crash a block away from my hotel, so things are going from zero to 100 here, and really much of the us is under the gun for this big winter snowstorm. what are authorities saying about how bad it might get over it might get over the next couple of days, particularly over the christmas period ? the christmas period, at a time and loved ones and families try and travel and get together? yeah, it can get really bad, especially holiday travel. that's a big story. my area could see anywhere from

6—12 inches with 25 mph gusts. 6—12 inches with 55 mph gusts. that creates problems when you have a huge influx of traffic. slightly to might east in buffalo, new york, through sunday experience 1—3 feet of impactful snow, 65—75 mph winds. not only that, the arctic blasts through much of the region — in montana yesterday, a small town got to —72 degrees fahrenheit. that's with wind chill. very impassable, _ that's with wind chill. very impassable, impactful- very impactful. anybody that's travelling through the holiday period here, definitely stay warm, have your urgency gear in your have your urgency gear.

in case you get stranded. we're seeing some images of what the situation is there right now. and your time monitoring the weather, how bad is this in comparison? to what i've seen before in my young storm—chaser career, i think this is just the start. who knows what we can see out of this? i have no problem calling this the start of a historic event. jaden, how much pressure do you think ambulance services and emergency services have been under, and what are they saying about how people should keep safe? they're under a lot of pressure right now. big workload. you can only have i guess so many emergency crews at one time, and you start get all these crashes stacking stacking up at one time, and then you start. i think at this time, responders definitely

have a lot of pressure on them to keep everything in working order. if you want to get in touch with me about any stories you've seen so far, the situation with the weather for instance, i'm on twitter. looking forward to hearing from you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we take a journey through david hockney�*s imagination as he describes his new immersive exhibition. the world of music's 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 said it's failed in its principal 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

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. l you could see what happens when a plane eight stories l 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 shkodra, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is newsday. i'm karishma vaswani with our headlines. as president zelensky returns to ukraine — we get the latest update from the front line. the us is in for the coldest christmas in four decades as a major winter storm sweeps the country. the scottish parliament has

passed controversial legislation which makes it easier for people to legally change gender. they'll no longer have to get a medical diagnosis before being allowed what's called a gender recognition certificate. the vote was greeted with cheers in the chamber from supporters of the bill, and cries of �*shame on you' from opponents. here's our scotland editor, james cook. for years, this nation has been divided politically. now there's a social split, too, on that hottest of topics — gender. trans rights! not everyone in scotland is invested in this debate, but those who are tend to be fired up. and so, here at holyrood this afternoon, there was both delight and disgust. and the gender recognition reform scotland bill is passed. applause thank you. shame on you! that followed days of delay and debate, not least about people born male accessing female—only spaces. i will do everything i can

to protect women's rights for as long as i live, but i also think it's an important part of my responsibility to make life a little bit easier for stigmatised minorities in our country. while there may be a majority in this chamber later today to support this legislation, a majority of the public oppose the bill, including most snp, labour and liberal democrat voters. this bill reduces women's rights and potentially risks women's safety. but what is the new process for changing gender in scotland? well, it will be faster. instead of living for 2h months in your new gender before applying, adults will now have to wait only three months. younger people will also be able to apply — the age limit drops from 18 to 16, although the process will be slower for this group. and it will be easier, because the requirement for medical reports to back up an application is being dropped. but will holyrood have the final say? the uk government says it's

considering whether it can block the legislation or challenge it in court. if it does, expect yet another row. viewed from afar, some of history's great social upheavals look much less contentious — votes for women, gay rights. supporters of this change say that's going to happen here, that controversy will fade over time, but opponents say it will intensify as the impact of this new law becomes clear. either way, perspective often shifts with distance. james cook, bbc news, edinburgh. spanish lawmakers in the lower house have also passed a transgender rights bill allowing anyone 16 and over to change gender on their id card. it's legislation that has divided spain's left—wing government and its feminist movement. the bill now moves to the senate where, if left unchanged as expected, it will become law

within weeks. the move will make spain one of the world's few countries to allow transgender people to change their status with a simple declaration. let's take a look at some of the stories in the headlines around the world. the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, ftx, has been released by a new york court after agreeing bail set at two—hundred—and—fifty million dollars. sam bankman—fried will also have to stay at his parents' home in california and surrender his passport while awaiting trial on fraud and money laundering charges. mr bankman—fried is accused of stealing billions of dollars from ftx to prop up another of his businesses. a belgian court has told the greek politician at the centre of a corruption scandal in the european parliament that she must remain in custody for another month. eva kaili, the former vice— president of the parliament, denies accepting bribes from qatar. muslim countries including saudi arabia and iran have criticised the decision by afghanistan's taliban

government to bar women from attending university. the saudis said afghanistan should abide by islamic principles regarding women's rights. the us senate has approved a huge government spending programme worth nearly $1.7 trillion. it includes another $16 billion of support for ukraine. the house of representatives has yet to vote on the bill. one of the biggest stories we covered this year is the cost of living crisis. and in many countries around the world, the costs of everyday goods and services are still rising, causing many families to downscale their festive plans. some are cutting back on the number of dishes at their christmas dinner, while others are giving fewer presents, and spending less on decorations. but for those living below the poverty line — and the charities that look out for them — the bite of rising costs cuts deeper.

earlier, i spoke to vivien chan, ceo of willing hearts, a soup kitchen based in singapore, who told me about the challenges they face at this time of year. the 9000 meals that we prepare every day for distribution as well, it has come to a point that we need a lot of help, whether be at the volunteers that come day by deed, whether be it the volunteers that come day by deed, that come day by day, the regulars we have. they are actually watching right now. they are helping out in the kitchen. we need drivers for the deliveries, drop—off, and also donations which are required to prepare a wholesome meal for the beneficiaries. i know you've been involved in this work for a long time, but in terms of how bad

the crisis has been this year, and what families living below the poverty line in singapore and might need, just talk a little bit about that. ok, i'm on the ground, basically meeting the beneficiaries themselves. i do see a lot of food struggles. those falling between the cracks, the needy ones, they have been struggling — they have lost theirjobs. mainly, they seek help from us, and even the government are helping us. the government is helping the beneficiaries as well. we do see the impact on the everyday life basically with the help they get from us. they can focus their expenses on kids' education or medical

bills. he's one of the most popular and influential artists of our time, and now david hockney, yorkshire born and well into his 805, is pushing the boundaries once again, of what's possible in art. our culture editor, katie razzall, has been to meet him. david hockney gets a first glimpse of his new show. i want my art to be joyful. we're on an immersive journey, as the final tweaks are under way, with one of britain's best—loved artists. the show�*s called bigger & closer, not smaller & further away — 60 years of his life and art. i do look closely at things. i can look at a puddle and get pleasure out of them. most people think it's just raining, don't they?

he is famous recently for his ipad paintings, but he's also done 1a new on campus, including an as yet unseen painting of pop star harry styles. he wanted me to paint him. he had a few little outfits, and i chose this yellow sweater. yellow is a hockney favourite. how many pairs of crocs have you got? well, i've only got one, actually. these are the only shoes he wears now, he says, deemed "beautifully chosen" by king charles when they met — a rare outing for hockney. i'm usually drawing or painting, yeah. i mean, it's all i want to do now. i mean, i'm 85. yeah, i've had a very, very good life. a life full of joyful a life full ofjoyful arts. katie razzall, bbc news. that's it from us. thanks so much for watching. do stay with

bbc news. hello there. for most of us, temperatures for the run—up to christmas and indeed into the christmas period will be above the seasonal norm. so, it's staying mild for most of us with quite a lot of rain at times. that'll be followed by sunny spells, scattered showers for christmas eve and christmas day. however, there will be some snow around friday, and certainly into the start of the christmas period across the north of the uk, this cold air tries to push southwards, and eventually, it will win out for a time as we move through boxing day, but it will be short—lived with milder air returning into the run—up to new year. now, today, it's a very wet start across southern and western areas. this band of heavy and persistent rain slowly pushes its way northwards — some thundery bursts of rain perhaps on it as we head into the afternoon.

but it brightens up in the south — quite windy, though — strong south—westerly winds. to the north of this rain band, it's sunny spells, scattered showers. these will be over wintry elements over the hills. and it will be chillier in the north ranging from around 4 to maybe 13 degrees in the south. that milder air will push northwards behind the rain band. but as this rain band pushes into the cold down the north, you'll see some transient snow in the north penines. the southern uplands will see some significant snowfall, i think, across parts of the highlands and the grampians. it will be quite a wet start to christmas eve here. but further south, generally dry and relatively mild. so, for christmas eve, it is going to be pretty wet and quite windy across scotland, further snow in the hills. further snow in the hills, but as the milder air in the south pushes northwards, it'll revert back to rain. and we'll see sunny spells, scattered showers, most of the showers southern and western areas. the winds will be strongest around the irish sea coast and up to 12 or 13 degrees in the south, 7 or 8 degrees in the north. as we move out of christmas eve into christmas day,

similar story — we're in a run of south—westerly winds, sunshine and showers. could see some rain, but that weather front scrapes the southeast through the day. and then this weather front spreading south eastwards into boxing day will introduce a line of showers but also more showers, but also more crucially, a spell of colder air which will move south across the country. and that'll bring a mixture of sunny spells and wintry showers, particularly in the northwest corner of the country. but you will see that the cold spell is short—lived as we move it's likely those temperatures will be rising above the seasonal norm. don't forget you can see detailed weather forecast for where you are and where you're going by checking out the bbc weather app.

there will be a lot of blood in the land and it will be a lot of refugees. we expected that it's going to be a pretty, well, long timely operation, and it absolutely goes as planned. this has become much bigger than ukraine versus russia. l we can succeed only and only if we stay united. let me tell you a secret. i had possession of all the

chelsea manning information. any method that was made i available, i would have taken.