this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. lam iamjoanna i am joanna gosling. our top stories: a fresh wave of russian missiles targets major cities across ukraine, in the biggest such attack for weeks. authorities say 120 missiles have been launched. here in the uk — the new boss of the british trades union body says all sides will need to compromise to avert a new wave of strikes in 2023. conversation has not taken place with the government so i would call to rishi sunak, jeremy hunt and steve barclay and all the others to sit down at the table and have that conversation. a third person is arrested over the christmas eve pub shooting near liverpool which killed elliie edwards — two others are also being questioned. america becomes the latest country

to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists. the eu is to consider similar control measures, but the uk has so far said it will not introduce new restrictions. roman catholic leaders join pope francis in calling for prayers for his predecessor, benedict the xvi, whose health has taken a sudden turn for the worse. erling haaland became the quickest player to reach 20 premier league goals with two against leeds as manchester city win 3—1 to move to second in the table. hello and welcome to bbc news. ukraine has been struck by a fresh barrage of russian missiles targeting several major cities. ukrainian authorities say more than 120 missiles had been launched at the population and civilian infrastructure. several cities —

from kyiv in the north, odesa in the south, kharkiv in the east and lviv in the west — have seen explosions hit their cities. the mayor of kyiv says 16 missiles had all been shot down by the capital's air defences but at least three people were taken to hospital. in lviv, officials say the city has lost about 90% of its electricity. earlier, ukraine's military intelligence chief told the bbc the conflict is now at a stalemate. our correspondent hugo bachega has the latest from kyiv. ukrainians have been saying for weeks that this is how russia is responding to military setbacks on the battlefield, by carrying out these air strikes targeting the country's civilian infrastructure. and today we heard from officials who said more than 120 missiles were fired, targeting cities across the country. we had explosions here in kyiv, also the city of lviv in the west of the country, kharkiv in the north—east, which is the country's second largest country, and 0desa in the south.

so this gives you an idea of how widespread these attacks were. we don't have confirmation yet of which locations have been hit. we know that air defence systems have intercepted many of those missiles. we have been given the all clear so we are back here in our position in kyiv after spending a few hours in the shelter this morning. people across the country were told to stay in shelters because of those air strikes. so again the ukrainians say they believe these attacks are likely to continue because they say this is how russia is responding to what is happening on the battlefield. hugo bachega. meanwhile, ukraine's military intelligence chief has said that fighting in his country is currently at a deadlock as neither ukraine nor russia can make significant advances. in a bbc interview kyrylo budanov said russia was suffering significant losses and he doesn't see any signs of moscow preparing a ground offensive in the new year.

russia has carried out this campaign targeting essential infrastructure. do you think these attacks are going to continue?

when will the war ended, do you think? when will the war end, do you think? including crimea and the regions that were occupied? i spoke earlier to michael bociurkiw in 0desa. mr bociurkiw is the atlantic council analyst and former spokesman for 0sce, the organisation for security and co—operation in europe. he says there is no water and the electricity in this southern port city after the strikes. i was just outside on the street in the city centre, very few people on the streets, there was no electricity, meaning no traffic lights operational, a lot of generators humming. internet is out. i have to say in the area i am in right now it

has been relatively untouched by the outages, but for the first time there is no power, there is no internet and crucially no water. so i understand from the head of the 0desa military administration, mr marchenko, some 21 rockets were directed towards the 0desa region and it looks like most of them were shot down. as hugo and others have said in the past, what causes a lot of the damage are the falling fragments from the destroyed missiles. you said no electricity, no internet, no water. do you expect those to come back on stream? because obviously this is an environment where you are under attack. how easy is it for these things to get fixed? hard to say but two things, it looks like the officials in many ukrainian cities have proactively switched off power, which prevents more damage happening from the strikes. the other thing is

the ukrainians have become very adept at fixing damaged infrastructure very quickly, whether it is water pipes, heating, or electrical substations. that's the good news here. but it's sad because i think after days of quiet, of no air raid alarms, ukrainians were looking forward to the new year and a bit of normalcy, and then these strikes happened. one other thing, so much of the world's grain is exported from ukraine to world markets under an agreement signed by ukraine, russia, the un and turkey. without electricity the port which is very near me cannot operate. so the russians must have known that when they sent rockets this way this morning. as you mention, a very strategically important place and a place that has been under attack, and then less so but now under attack again in a sustained way. what goes on there in the city?

have people left, have people returned, is their people returned, is there business operating? what is it like living there? well, a lot of people have actually returned because it has become very difficult for ukrainians overseas to sustain themselves. a lot of benefits are ending. having said that, yes, a lot of the businesses were starting to having said that, yes, a lot of businesses were starting to get up and running. there is a very famous restaurant here and they have had to reduce their operating days from 21w, basically, to just three or four days a week, that's because they don't have electricity. they also can't afford a generator. and i think that kind of stories being of story is being repeated across 0desa and across the country, and it's very difficult to portray that on tv or in print media. but there is an economic crisis going on

because of this. and i'm really worried about a lot of those small and medium—sized businesses that are struggling right now. i've talked to the owners and they say they can't go on much longer if these types of interruptions continue. here in the uk, a wave of strikes continues. border force officials, driving instructors and some rail workers are off the job today. the new head of the british trades union body, the tuc, has warned that more industrial action is likely in the new year. he's called on the government to negotiate with the unions. our business correspondent ben boulos reports. it's become a common sight in recent months. railway workers, nurses, postal staff and border force, among others, going on strike over pay and conditions. the government says their demands are unaffordable. but the new general secretary of the trades union congress, which brings together the different unions, rejects that argument. the job of government is to make political choices. i'd argue they've made choices that don't benefit working people, their families and communities. so i would urge the government to talk to unions, to come to the table. let's find a way to get people's wages rising.

people's incomes boosted. as we sit here now, do you think we will see more strikes well into 2023? i think the answer to that question lies very firmly in the hands of the government. if the government refuses to negotiate, if the government refuses to take seriously the concerns of working people, i think we may see more industrial action as we go into 2023. the one thing i can absolutely tell you is that no union member wants to take strike action, takes that strike action lightly, but the government really does need to step up to the plate now, talk to unions, talk to their own workforce, put money in the pockets of working people and stop stonewalling. in a statement the government said we have been reasonable in our approach to agreeing to the independent pay review bodies�* recommendations for public sector pay rises, adding, the only way to stop the disruption completely is for union bosses to get back round the table and call off these damaging strikes. ben boulos, bbc news. a third person has been arrested

over the christmas eve pub shooting near liverpool that killed a 26—year—old woman and injured four men. police have been given more time to question two other people — a man and a woman. merseyside police said elle edwards was not thought to have been the target when she was shot and killed outside the lighthouse pub in wallasey. mairead smyth reports. the road has now reopened around the pub. a cordon remains in place. and anyone who has a vehicle in the car park is now able to come and pick up their vehicle. they will have to produce id to the police. a mobile police station remains on site. that will help people collect their vehicle and give any information, if they have it, to merseyside police, who've described this attack as a callous murder. they say they will be relentless in their efforts to bring to justice whoever was responsible for the murder elle edwards and injuring four other people. now, one man, a 28—year—old, continues to receive medical treatment. but the message from

merseyside police today is as clear as it was on christmas eve, when this attack happened — they need help to find the person responsible for ellie edwards�* murder. they ask anyone with information to come forward. police are continuing to question two men on suspicion of murder following a fatal stabbing in a birmingham nightclub. 23—year—old cody fisher — who was a non—league footballer — was attacked on the dancefloor of the crane on boxing day. his family says his death has broken their hearts. european union health officials are meeting today to decide on a coordinated reponse after china announced it was easing its foreign travel restrictions next week, despite its rising covid cases. the us and several other countries have already imposed covid testing for chinese visitors. china is preparing to open its borders to international travel once again, easing restrictions on visits to and from the country. travel agents are reporting a surge in bookings,

but it comes at the same time as a surge in covid cases in the country. hospitals in china appear to be struggling to cope as the regime moves away from its zero—covid policy, which it had pursued for almost three years. washington has accused beijing of failing to provide adequate and transparent covid data. china reported just one new death yesterday, despite queues outside hospitals for emergency treatment. so from early next year, anyone arriving in the us from china will need to show a negative test. italy, india and japan have also imposed restrictions, but the british government says there are no plans to reintroduce testing or additional requirements for anyone arriving in the uk. it says it will continue to monitor closely the prevalence and spread of any harmful variants and keep international data under review. australia too is adopting a similar approach. we'll continue to monitor the circumstances that are occurring in china and in other parts

of the world as well as we do. we'll take the appropriate advice from the health experts and follow that advice. there's no change in the travel advice at this point in time, but we're continuing to monitor the situation. 0ne expert in infectious diseases says new testing regimes can only achieve so much. i can certainly understand the concern about the potential for importation of new variants from other parts of the world. but in reality, these measures are very unlikely to have any significant impact in reducing risk. so i think these are more about public relations and perhaps a bit about foreign policy than they are really about public health. today, the european commission will meet to discuss a possible coordinated eu response to china's rising cases. but as china attempts to return to a sense of normality, it has accused western countries of a smear campaign. it's clear, though, international concern is rising,

but there's no consensus over how best to respond to it. simon jones, bbc news. a new israeli government is set to be sworn in later this morning. it's an alliance led by prime minister—designate benjamin netanyahu and includes the religious zionism and jewish power parties. it will be mr netanyahu's record sixth term in office. despite reassurances that he will promote tolerance and pursue peace, there has been international and domestic unease about the approach of his coalition partners to palestinian statehood and minority rights. let's go back to china reopening after its zero—covid macro policy, leading to countries around the world imposing restrictions on travellers from china. didi tang is the times of london beijing

correspondent. the reason for these restrictions are concerns around the scale of covid in china and a lack of transparency. how clear is the situation? i of transparency. how clear is the situation? ~ . of transparency. how clear is the situation? ~' ., , situation? i think in china there is a hue situation? i think in china there is a huge surge _ situation? i think in china there is a huge surge of — situation? i think in china there is a huge surge of infections, - situation? i think in china there is| a huge surge of infections, almost in all major cities across the country. in beijing we saw the peak probably about one or two weeks ago. i myself was infected, i did not know how i got it but i was infected, now spreading to more cities in china and we are talking about tens of millions being infected every single day. we are talking about a very huge number here. i think this kind of scale is unseen anywhere else in the world, john opens up and all of a sudden we see this huge spike in the number of

infections. i think there are concerns, both outside china and also inside china that this mass infection is going to result in some kind of mutants, we don't know what's going to happen because we have never seen infection on such a large—scale in the past. so now those concerns in china are very legitimate, and i really hope the chinese authorities are monitoring the situation. i have started seeing surveys by the local disease prevention and control centres, sending out surveys trying to gauge what is going on because once people are infected they are not reporting the figures to authorities, not like in the past. so there are some efforts within china to gauge the extent, using those search models, if people are searching for medication for fever

if people are searching for medication forfever and if people are searching for medication for fever and colds, if people are searching for medication forfever and colds, so they can guess how many people get infected. so hopefully there is a monitoring system out there and i really hope if the government is sharing the information with the public they are sharing it with foreign governments and other public health officials. didi foreign governments and other public health officials.— health officials. didi tang, thank ou ve health officials. didi tang, thank you very much — health officials. didi tang, thank you very much for _ health officials. didi tang, thank you very much forjoining - health officials. didi tang, thank you very much forjoining us, - you very much forjoining us, beijing correspondent for the times. thank you. at the vatican, pope francis has urged people to pray for his predecessor, pope—emeritus benedict, whose health has worsened. pope francis was speaking at wednesday's general audience. officials say the former pope's health has deteriorated overnight. benedict xvi — who is 95 — left office in 2013 — the first pope to resign in six centuries. we can get more now from john l allenjr, who is a journalist and author who has written two books about pope benedict. welcome, and thank you forjoining us. how is the catholic world

responding to this news? because obviously this is an unprecedented situation that we are witnessing, a pope at the end of his life, we don't know how ill he is, or pope emeritus, the pope saying he is very ill, but of course he retired a long time ago. ill, but of course he retired a long time ao. . v ill, but of course he retired a long time ao. ., �*, ill, but of course he retired a long timeauo. ., �*, , time ago. that's right. it has been almost a decade, _ time ago. that's right. it has been almost a decade, hard _ time ago. that's right. it has been almost a decade, hard to - time ago. that's right. it has been almost a decade, hard to believe, | almost a decade, hard to believe, but pope benedict has been living for the past decade in a monastery on vatican grounds and being a kind of shadow presence during the papacy of shadow presence during the papacy of pope francis. you asked how the catholic world is response responding. the overwhelming response has been of prayer. if you follow catholic social media, catholic water cooler conversation, it is abundantly clear that catholics around the world are taking up the pope's invitation to pray for the retired pope, pope ben,

for his health. in what i think most people take for granted is the final stage of his earthly life. you people take for granted is the final stage of his earthly life.— stage of his earthly life. you are an authority _ stage of his earthly life. you are an authority on _ stage of his earthly life. you are an authority on events _ stage of his earthly life. you are an authority on events at - stage of his earthly life. you are an authority on events at the - an authority on events at the vatican, you have written books on the vatican and catholic affairs. how will his legacy be assessed? how is it being considered at the moment —— pope benedict. the is it being considered at the moment -- pepe benedict-— -- pope benedict. the legacy of a po -e is -- pope benedict. the legacy of a pepe is always — -- pope benedict. the legacy of a pope is always in _ -- pope benedict. the legacy of a pope is always in the _ -- pope benedict. the legacy of a pope is always in the eye - -- pope benedict. the legacy of a pope is always in the eye of- -- pope benedict. the legacy of a pope is always in the eye of the l pope is always in the eye of the beholder. if you were to ask conservative or traditional catholics who are great admirers of pope ben, they will tell you that he will be remembered as a hero, a man who stood for the truth of catholic teaching in a time of runaway secularisation and moral relativism. liberal critics of pope benedict will say he obstructed the reforms

that were intended by the second vatican council in the 1960s and that were finally, belatedly unleashed under the presents pope pope francis. victims of clerical sexual abuse often associated benedict with the bad old days and the churchdenial and refusal to come to terms the legacy of abuse. 0thers to terms the legacy of abuse. others will remember pope benedict as the one who belatedly began the process of reforming. i think when benedict finally does pass away, what you are going to see is a kind of mosaic approach to his legacy where various voices add up to something approximating a comprehensive and very complex picture. john approximating a comprehensive and very complex picture.— very complex picture. john l alan thank ou very complex picture. john l alan thank you for— very complex picture. john l alan thank you forjoining _ very complex picture. john l alan thank you forjoining us. - thank you forjoining us. authorities say 90 people are known to have died in a casino fire in north—west cambodia on the border with thailand.

the fire in the gambling complex raged for several hours. several people are being treated for injuries, and local reports say that people were trapped in the grand diamond city hotel as the fire spread. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane dougall. we start with the english premier league because erling haaland scored twice as manchester city kept to within five points of leaders arsenal with a 3—1victory over leeds united in the premier league. erling haaland's father used to play for leeds, so the goals may have been extra special for him and his son, who is now the fastest player to score 20 goals in premier league history. city are back into second place in the table and manager pep guardiola says there is even more to come from erling haaland. i guardiola says there is even more to come from erling haaland.— come from erling haaland. i think he's still not _ come from erling haaland. i think he's still not at _ come from erling haaland. i think he's still not at his _ come from erling haaland. i think he's still not at his best, - come from erling haaland. i think he's still not at his best, as - come from erling haaland. i think he's still not at his best, as at - he's still not at his best, as at the beginning of the season but the injury was over a long period and when we started training in abu dhabi he couldn't train a single day, may be the last day. and to get this huge body moving is not easy

for him but as much as he can play more minutes it will be better. australia's cricketers have sealed a series win over south africa with one match still left to play. the aussies bowled south africa out for 204 aussies bowled south africa out for 20h on des four in melbourne to win 20a on des four in melbourne to win the second test by an innings and 182 runs. spinner nathan lyon took three wickets, while temba bavuma's 65 proved in vain for south africa. the third and final test in sydney starts on the 3rd of january. meanwhile, in karachi, new zealand declared on 612—9 against pakistan in the first test, a lead of 174. kane williamson got his double century and a few moments ago pakistan were 12 without loss in their second innings. the tennis season started in australia on thursday with a new mixed team event called the united cup. 18 countries have been drawn in six groups played in sydney, perth and brisbane. each of the group ties is spread over two

days with singles on the opening day building up to the final the 8th of january. the usa got off to a flying start with taylor fritz beating the czech republic's jiri start with taylor fritz beating the czech republic'sjiri lehecka in straight sets. madison keys followed that up with a 6—4— 6—3 win over pliskova so the us just need to win one more match to take the tie. meanwhile, novak djokovic has said he'll neverforget being meanwhile, novak djokovic has said he'll never forget being deported from australia earlier this year. the serbian insists his willingness to return for next month's grand slam at melbourne park shows the depth of feeling he has for the country. djokovic was deported on the eve of the 2022 australian open in january the eve of the 2022 australian open injanuary for the eve of the 2022 australian open in january for not being the eve of the 2022 australian open injanuary for not being vaccinated against covid—19. he received a three—year travel ban from the country. the former world number one's visa ban was waived last month, however, meaning he can now target a tenth australian open title to attempt to match rafael nadal�*s

22 grand slams. x�*t�*ou to attempt to match rafael nadal's 22 grand slams.— 22 grand slams. you can't forget those events, _ 22 grand slams. you can't forget those events, you _ 22 grand slams. you can't forget those events, you know, - 22 grand slams. you can't forget those events, you know, is - 22 grand slams. you can't forget those events, you know, is one i 22 grand slams. you can't forgetl those events, you know, is one of those events, you know, is one of those things that stick with you for the rest of your life. as i said it is something i've never experienced before and hopefully never again, but it is a valuable life experience for me and something that, as i said, will stay there but i have to move on, as i said, and coming back to australia speaks to how i feel about this country, how i feel about playing here. about this country, how i feel about playing here-— playing here. more details on those stories on the _ playing here. more details on those stories on the bbc— playing here. more details on those stories on the bbc sport _ playing here. more details on those stories on the bbc sport website. i stories on the bbc sport website. that's it for now. joanna. thank you. a reminder of our menus. —— menus. a fresh wave of missiles have been launched against kyiv in the north to 0desa in the south, kharkiv in the east and lviv in the west. there have been power outages

and water supplies have also been cut off by the strikes, which have targeted infrastructure and civilians. you're watching bbc news. hello again. as we head up towards the new year the weather does remain unsettled. it is going to be wet and windy at times, some of us are seeing some snow. this afternoon there is lots of dry weather around. we have some showers being blown quite quickly on a brisk wind and some of the showers aligning themselves, moving from the west to east across northern ireland, scotland and northern england, falling as snow on the tops of hills and mountains. the strongest snow today in the and english channel —— the strongest winds. the temperature down on yesterday by a degree or so. as we move through the day there will be dry conditions before the next batch of weather fronts come in introducing heavy rain especially

across the west of northern ireland, south—west scotland, and as it bumps into the cold air across central and northern scotland we will see that readily turning into snow above about 200 metres, and again we could have as much as ten centimetres. but tomorrow that continues to push dudley north woods, two bands of rain moving eastwards, still brisk winds, but behind all this rain what we find is a return to a lot of dry weather, some sunshine, but still some heavy showers across the north west. temperatures up a touch, four and loic, 13 in london. as we head on into new year's eve itself, we will have rain across the south, the northern extent is still open to some question, rain across northern ireland, central and southern scotland clipping northern england, and we will also have some rain across the north of scotland falling snow on higher ground. very mild in the south, chilly in the north. as we head up to the midnight hour, look what happens. a lot of our rain tends to fade, for many of us it's

going to be dry by the time we get to new year's day, and it's going to be cold in the north of scotland, temperatures falling away to —7. if you want more details about where you want more details about where you are going to be at that time, or during the next few days, you can also check out our bbc weather app. 0n also check out our bbc weather app. on sunday which is new year's day you can see we have some rain coming across southern areas, again the northern extent of this is still open to a bit of question, worth checking the app if you're on the move. we have also got some more coming in across northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland which might well prove to be wintry in nature on higher ground.

this is bbc news. the headlines. a fresh wave of russian missiles targets major cities across ukraine in the biggest such attack for weeks. authorities say 120 missiles have been launched. here in the uk — the new boss of the british trades union body says all sides will need to compromise to avert a new wave of strikes in 2023. america becomes the latest country to impose mandatory covid tests on chinese tourists. the eu is to consider similar control measures but the uk has so far said it will not introduce new restrictions. roman catholic leaders join pope francis in calling for prayers for his predecessor, benedict xvi, whose health has deteriorated.