this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: russia fires dozens of missiles at cities across ukraine in one of the biggest attacks since the start of the war. belarus says its air defences have brought down a missile on its territory — and claims it's from ukraine. eu officials discuss imposing covid testing on visitors from china, following the lead of italy, the us and beijing's neighbours. protests outside israel's parliament as the most right—wing government in the country's history prepares to be sworn—in. the uk government says it will not be "held to ransom" by striking public sector workers, as it defends the use of troops to man border controls. members of the armed forces that

have come to help out when the strikes are on are carrying out a very straightforward function and of course backed up by computer systems and scans that allow us to identify people of worry coming into the country. russia has launched a fresh wave of missile strikes on ukraine, in one of the biggest bombardments since the start of the war. the ukrainian authorities say about 70 missiles were launched from air and sea, with many of them intercepted. even so, towns and cities across ukraine have been hit — 90% of lviv is without power, and 40% of the capital kyiv. but the head of ukrainian military intelligence has told the bbc russia is running out of missiles. hugo bachega reports from kyiv.

on the outskirts of kyiv, tears and anger. the front lines are far from here but this morning war has come to them. this house was hit as russia launched another wave of air strikes. her granddaughter was in her bedroom when the attack happened and was injured. "she was very scared, she was screaming on the phone," she says. "it is a very difficult feeling when you are just waiting "for the next attack to happen." her husband was in this room when the ceiling fell. "i went deaf temporarily. "everything started to crumble around me. "i run outside... "i run outside and found my daughter screaming." this, ukrainian say is proof of what they describe as russian terror. missiles and drones have brought suffering and destruction to people no matter where they are.

attacks like this are unlikely to stop. ukraine's spy chief tells me... kyiv is now returning to normal, but people wonder when their city may be hit again. belarus' defence ministry has said its air defences brought down a ukrainian 5—300 missile in the brest border region. belarus' state—run belta news agency had earlier reported that a ukrainian 5—300 missile had fallen onto the territory of belarus

during one of russia's most extensive missile attacks against ukraine since the start of the war. to talk it through further i'm joined now by retired air vice marshall sean bell. thank you for being with us. what do you make of this incident in belarus, could it have been a ukrainian missile?— belarus, could it have been a ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the dancer ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the danger with _ ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the danger with all— ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the danger with all of _ ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the danger with all of these, - ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the danger with all of these, a - ukrainian missile? good afternoon. the danger with all of these, a bit l the danger with all of these, a bit like in poland where msl fell on polish soil, there is a grave risk looks like somebody is targeting something in belarus itself. what we have to do on a military respectively look at the facts. the missile, it does seem to be identified us as, was operated by the former soviet union country, so not only the ukrainian operates that. it was in an open field and there appears not to be any casualties at yet. the real reason is why did it find itself there? the timing of this maasai landing was about the same time at the height of

the russian missile attacks. so it is likely the ukrainian air defence systems were up and running at the time. so the question is, was there any intent from ukrainians of targeting belarus? from a military perspective there is no reason ukraine would want belarus involved in this war. and likewise, belarus doesn't want to get involved. over 90% of the population and the military do not want to get dragged into this. although putin wants to drag belarus into the war, it looks very unlikely on face value this was not a deliberate attack on belarus. also, why on earth would you send a missile into an empty field, you would choose a lucrative target. it looks like an accident and incident as part of this dynamic and dangerous for that is happening in ukraine. we dangerous for that is happening in ukraine. ~ . , ., , dangerous for that is happening in ukraine. ~ . , ., ukraine. we have seen, as you have said, this ukraine. we have seen, as you have said. this wave _ ukraine. we have seen, as you have said, this wave of _ ukraine. we have seen, as you have said, this wave of russian _ ukraine. we have seen, as you have said, this wave of russian missile i said, this wave of russian missile strikes on ukraine again today, another 69 missile is fired, according to the ukrainians. they are saying they think russia is

running out of missiles, do you think it is true? the running out of missiles, do you think it is true?— running out of missiles, do you think it is true? the danger is, i am a military — think it is true? the danger is, i am a military analyst _ think it is true? the danger is, i am a military analyst and - think it is true? the danger is, i am a military analyst and i - think it is true? the danger is, i am a military analyst and i get i think it is true? the danger is, i i am a military analyst and i get free from a number of different sources and none of those are prepared to advise exactly what the wall stocks of russia are. what is fair to say, most militaries, every military around the world hold stocks ready to respond to particular set of circumstances. very few nations would have hold enough missiles to conduct the sort of rate of targeting over a prolonged period that russia is able to do here. we have already seen examples where russia has been using air defence missiles in the ground attack role, they have been using other missiles without warheads. it does look as if they are scraping the barrel a bit. what i suspect at the moment, we are in the middle of winter, both sides are a bit gridlocked in this war and russia is pushing really hard to get the ukrainians to lose the will to

continue fighting. it is incredibly cold and miserable in ukraine. if you take out the energy supplies that potentially you sap the will of the ukrainians wanted to fight and potentially forcing president zelensky to negotiate. the feelings we are getting from your correspondence on the ground, all this is doing is stiffening the resolve of the ukrainians against the russians. it looks very unlikely to prevail, even though it is using a lot of the war stock of russia. good to talk to you. a short while ago the uk defence secretary ben wallace was asked about how the uk is helping ukraine. first of all, britain is at the forefront of its effort to help. we put in only recently, thousands of anti—air missiles to help bring down these iranian drones that russia is now firing, rather indiscriminately, both a critical infrastructure and civilian areas. and we will continue

to use our know—how, training and any hardware support we can in 2023 to make sure ukraine can defend itself. i think it is important to note, the targeting of civilian infrastructure and civilian areas is against the geneva convention. russia is breaking international law, not only with its invasion but the targeting it is carrying out. there will be a response from the rest of the world to that type of behaviour. in rest of the world to that type of behaviour-— rest of the world to that type of behaviour. u, , , ., . behaviour. in cash terms, how much ofthe behaviour. in cash terms, how much of the uk's — behaviour. in cash terms, how much of the uk's aid _ behaviour. in cash terms, how much of the uk's aid to _ behaviour. in cash terms, how much of the uk's aid to the _ behaviour. in cash terms, how much of the uk's aid to the ukraine - behaviour. in cash terms, how much of the uk's aid to the ukraine cost . of the uk's aid to the ukraine cost so far? ., , , ., of the uk's aid to the ukraine cost so far? .,, , ., ,': , ., from 2023 we will put in another 2.3 billion. some of that is non—military aid, some of that is the likes of humanitarian support such as generators. some of that is obviously military hardware, some of it is training. we train 10,000 ukrainians in the uk and we will train another 20,000 ukrainians in the uk and we will train another20,000 in ukrainians in the uk and we will train another 20,000 in the uk. some of it is backfilling british docs,

so stocks we have given away we have to make sure our armed forces are up today to be able to defend ourselves. we are committed to another 2.3 billion to another 2023 because it is vital for all of us that russia fails in its ambitions in ukraine. a strong message is sent around the world are breaking international law and brutality, torture and rape is not acceptable torture and rape is not acceptable to the international community and we will deal with it together. thank ou. a new israeli government is about to be sworn in in the next hour. the alliance of the prime minister—designate benjamin netanyahu with religious zionism and jewish power parties is the most religious and hard—line in israel's history. consequently it has stirred domestic and international unease, and there have been protests outside the parliament ahead of the ceremony.

the wider contest, this is the worst violence that has been seen in the west bank. the new government that is about to be sworn in has promised to expand jewish settlements in the occupied west bank and to pursue a host of other policies that have been already condemned by many nations around the world. these are live pictures from jerusalem of the swearing in ceremony. our middle east correspondent yolande knell has been out on the streets ofjerusalem and sent us this report. as you can see there is already a lot of opposition to benjamin netanyahu's new government. he is pledging he will serve all israeli citizens, but people here are very worried about his alliance with ultranationalist and orthodox jewish partners in the agenda that they

have set. top of the priority list is a commitment to expand settlements in the occupied west bank. they are seen as illegal under international law but isreal disagrees and people i have spoken to are worried about inflaming tensions with the palestinians. there is a promise to change anti—discrimination laws and allow businesses to refuse to serve people on the basis of religion. when i have spoken to have demonstrators here, they are worried about what that means for lgbtq rights and also the israel arab minority. they talk about a promise to overhaul the legal system so israel's parliament will have greater power to overrule the supreme court. they say mr netanyahu, who faces trials of corruption still, which he denies, should not be allowed to make changes that affect the independence of the judiciary. all of this has led to some unusual interventions with israel's figurehead president, speaking of his deep concern and

also the israeli military chief of staff speaking out. we have had the palestinian president saying it is a government that represents extremism and apartheid. also israel's international allies, notably the us are worrying about prospects for peace and civil liberties. at least 21 people are now known to have been killed in a huge fire at a casino hotel in north—west cambodia. officials say they expect the figure to rise as rescue teams search the massive complex in poipet where dozens are still missing. the blaze broke out at the grand diamond city hotel in the early hours of the morning. video footage shows people huddled on window ledges with some jumping from the burning complex. uzbekistan's health ministry says 18 children have died after drinking a cough syrup manufactured by indian drug maker marion biotech. the ministry said that preliminary tests showed a batch of the medicine

contained ethylene glycol, a toxic substance. india's health ministry said it's conducted an inspection of marion biotech's facility in noida in uttar pradesh state. here's the legal representative of marion biotech earlier today. translation: everything is under -rocess translation: everything is under process and _ translation: everything is under process and there _ translation: everything is under process and there is _ translation: everything is under process and there is no _ translation: everything is under process and there is no sale - translation: everything is under process and there is no sale or- process and there is no sale or anything else taking place. there is nothing wrong from our side but we cannot comment on what happened over there. the allegation from uzbekistan comes weeks after the gambia also linked 69 child deaths to cough syrups made by another indian firm, maiden pharmaceuticals — which were also found by the gambian government to be contaminated with ethylene glycol. both the indian government and the company denied the allegations. joining us now is our correspondent in delhi, arunoday mukharji.

thank you very much for being here. tell us more about the allegations and the response we have had to them? , , ., , and the response we have had to them? ,, . [ln and the response we have had to them? ,, ., ., and the response we have had to them? ,, . ., ., them? essentially 18 children out of 21 he was suffering _ them? essentially 18 children out of 21 he was suffering from _ them? essentially 18 children out of 21 he was suffering from acute - 21 he was suffering from acute respiratory problems passed away after being administered this drug. according to the preliminary reports, there is the presence of the toxic substance you mentioned but apart from that the statement from uzbekistan says categorically, this medicine was being administered in excess of the standard dosage norms, as well as it was being administered without any kind of doctor prescription and on the advice of pharmacists. so it remains to be seen what the investigation does eventually find. they also said the toxic substance which can lead to some severe ailments, including heart conditions and kidney failure. that is the severity of the medication. but in terms of what has happened, the indian health ministry

say they are in touch with drug authorities in uzbekistan and they are currently carrying out tests after taking samples from one of the facilities here on the outskirts of delhi. they said they will take appropriate action once they find what comes out in those tests. at the moment that is all the indian health ministry has said. the incident involving children in gambia in the past came to light. test on the samples in question then, but they were given a clean bill of health despite the who issued warning signs after the news came out as well.— came out as well. thank you very much indeed. _ 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. ministers here in the uk said they had "no plans" to impose tests, but would keep the issue under review. simonjones reports. 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. one 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. the new leader of the trades union congress, which represents dozens of unions in england and wales, has accused the government of refusing to negotiate on public sector pay. paul novak also says ministers are using pay review bodies as "a human shield" to deflect proper wage rises. but the defence secretary ben wallace insisted those bodies are independent and that the government will not be "held to ransom". katy austin reports.

picket lines have become a familiar sight this year as an increasing number of workers take part in strikes. the new leader of the tuc, the umbrella organisation for dozens of unions in england and wales, says more transparency was needed around the process by which independent review bodies recommend pay for nhs staff and other public sector workers, such as teachers and police officers. it is important if the pay review body is going to continue that they have real credibility. and they seem genuinely independent. the pay review body process is in danger of being brought into disrepute, because the government is hiding behind the pay review bodies, refusing to negotiate on pay and refusing to reach a reasonable settlement with our public sector unions. at the moment there is no end in sight to industrial action in a number of sectors. today, a strike by border force

staff at six major airports continues. driving examiners have walked out in some areas of england. other action in the diary includes national strikes by rail workers in the rmt and aslef unions in the first working week ofjanuary, and also injanuary, most strikes involving ambulance workers and nurses. this morning, the defence secretary visited military personnel covering for border force workers at manchester airport. he said ministers would not ignore the advice of independent pay review bodies to suit the agenda of trade union leaders leaders to negotiate with employers. and he suggested the boarders were safe. the boarders are safe and secure, members of the armed forces have come to help out when the strikes are on and are carrying out very straightforward function, backed up by computer systems and scans that allow us to identify people of worry coming into the country. the tuc boss said today he hoped compromise could be reached,

but as things stand, the new year will bring further walk outs. katy austin, bbc news. let's speak to alan jones, industrial correspondent at pa media. do you foresee more strikes, more industrial action in the new year? there is no question there's going to be more strikes. we are coming to the end of this year, it has been the end of this year, it has been the most extraordinary year for strikes by nurses, ambulance staff, barristers. but i think next month things will escalate. teachers across england and wales and other parts of the uk going on strike as the current wave of dispute. we could look at about a million workers either on strike or involved in disputes by the end of next month. in in disputes by the end of next month. , ., , , . in disputes by the end of next month. , , . , . ., month. in terms of public sector workers, month. in terms of public sector workers. the _ month. in terms of public sector workers, the government - month. in terms of public sector workers, the government don'tl month. in terms of public sector - workers, the government don't seem in any mood to give any ground or

compromise, ortry in any mood to give any ground or compromise, or try to seek a breakthrough to these strikes? the? breakthrough to these strikes? they are not at all- _ breakthrough to these strikes? they are not at all. the _ breakthrough to these strikes? tue: are not at all. the message breakthrough to these strikes? tte: are not at all. the message hasn't changed for months. they are refusing to give any more money to nurses, civil servants, ambulance workers, nhs workers. they are denying they are blocking the deal to resolve the rail dispute, even though the rail unions are adamant the government is blocking the deal. as long as that position remains, there will be more strikes. ben wallace was saying there should be negotiations between unions and employers in a lot of these cases. the government is the employer, certainly with the civil service dispute, and one of the complaints from the unions is the government is refusing to negotiate over pay, which is the central dispute in all of these cases.— which is the central dispute in all of these cases. ~ ., ., of these cases. what the government sa s, there of these cases. what the government says. there are _ of these cases. what the government says, there are independent - of these cases. what the government says, there are independent pay - says, there are independent pay review bodies, they are sticking to the recommendations of pay from those bodies. but the unions, the

tuc and its new general secretary saying those pay review bodies are a kind of human shield and the government are hiding behind that? full novak echoing a lot of use from union officials from the last few months. there are pay review bodies, unions are allowed to put forward evidence, suggestions for what kind of pay rise they want. but the government appoints people to those pay review bodies. the government has set broad limits for how much they can recommend on the government doesn't have to accept the recommendation. the unions are now saying quite openly the government is using the pay review bodies as an excuse not to try and resolve these big disputes. excuse not to try and resolve these big disputes-— excuse not to try and resolve these big disputes. good to talk to, thank ou. roman catholic leaders around the world havejoined pope francis in calling for prayers

for his predecessor, xvi benedict xvi, whose health has taken a sudden turn for the worse. the current pope visited the 95—year—old and said he is very ill. our correspondent bethany bell gave us this update in the last hour we just had a statement from the vatican saying that benedict's condition is serious but stable. he rested well overnight, the statement said, and he was awake and lucid. we know that pope francis has called on catholics around the world to pray forformer pope benedict, who became pope in 2005, had a very... ..was espoused a conservative line and then became the first pope since 1415 to resign, which he did in 2013, saying that he no longer had the physical and mental strength to run the church. we know that he's been in poor

health for some time now. the most recent picture that was released of him at the beginning of december or so, he appeared extremely frail. but now, as we've heard from this final, this most recent vatican statement, that his condition at the moment is stable, but we don't have any more details as to the exact nature of the things he's suffering from. but for the moment, it seems that benedict is in a stable condition. let's end the programme with some live pictures from jerusalem. it is the swearing in of the new government led by benjamin netanyahu. israel's veteran leader, who is about to become prime minister again who is about to become prime ministeragain in a who is about to become prime minister again in a coalition government. said to be the most right—wing the entire history of israel. you have been watching bbc

news. hello again. today really is a day of sunshine and showers. some of the show was wintry of the hills. in scotland, we could see a bit of winteryness on the tops of the pennines as well today. all of this is pushing slowly eastwards and we got showers and other western areas being blown in on a brisk wind, gusty wind, the strongest of which is through the irish sea and english channel. and if anything, temperatures are a little bit lower today than they were yesterday. through this evening and overnight we lose the showers, we have a drier period and heavy rain starts to come in from the west. heaviest across southern scotland as it engages with the cold air in the north, it will readily turn to snow above 200m. some of us could have as much as ten

centimetres of snow. the met office has issued an amber weather warning for the heavy rain, the risk of flooding, likely to be travel disruption from this as well and this warning is valid from 3am in the morning until midday. snow falling across the north of scotland, the rain moving away from northern ireland, england and wales. it is still going to be windy but we will see a return to some sunshine and if anything, temperatures up a touch for most than they are going to be today. as we head into saturday, new year's eve, we have rain in the south, we still have some snow falling especially on higher ground across the far north of scotland, pushing northwards through the day, as indeed the rain in between something drier and brighter. these temperatures in norwich getting up to 15 degrees, average at this time of year is seven. as we head towards the midnight hour we still will have some rain around across parts of england and wales.

this forecast could still change as it has been doing in the last couple of days. drier further north where it is going to be cold. as low as minus seven or minus eight. you can keep up today where you are on bbc weather app. as we head into new year's day itself, it remains unsettled. this band of rain has been giving us a headache as to how far north it is going to travel. this is what we think at the moment. a band of showers also pushing northwards depositing some hill snow on the hills in the north and cold in the north, fours and fives to 12 as we pushed out towards the south.

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