this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. a huge wave of russian missiles — targets cities across ukraine — in one of the biggest attacks since the war began. israel's new hardline government is sworn in, with benjamin netanyahu becoming prime ministerfor a record sixth time. a huge fire at a casino hotel in cambodia has killed at least 21 people; many others are missing. 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. and — one for all rail enthusiasts — a new european sleeper service is to launch next year. set off from london — wake up in berlin. welcome to bbc news. cities across ukraine have been targeted by a huge wave of russian missile strikes — in one of the largest bombardments since the war began. at least three people — including a 14—year—old girl — were injured after explosions hit the capital kyiv. other cities targeted include kharkiv, odesa and lviv in the west. 90% of lviv is now without power. ukraine's military says —

69 missiles were launched from air and sea, with air defences intercepting 5a of them. it comes as the head of ukraine's military intelligence, has told the bbc, that 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 lady's 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, ukrainians 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. kyiv is now returning to normal, but people wonder when their city may be hit again. maria avdeeva is a disinformation and security analyst from kharkiv — she just told me — what the last5 2a hours had been like.

the attack started yesterday, late evening, and the first attack was made by iranian made drones and they were used for two reasons, one was to hit the critical infrastructure facilities and the other was possibly to realise for the russians, for the ukrainian anti—air system, to know where they are located and then aim their missiles more precisely. and they did so and today was attacked, kharkiv, several times through the day, but only through cruise missiles but also 5—300 missiles and one of the last attacks killed two civilians. a man on the spot and the other one died in the ambulance because doctors were unable to save him and the air raids and kharkiv happened five times only today and it is still not the end

of the day. possibly more will come and the situation is quite critical with energy because according to the officials, one energy infrastructure facility at least was actually hit and the metro has stopped stuck it has resumed and is working but still the electricity outages are frequent in different districts around this area. we are showing viewers pictures that you filmed a little earlier and very clearly through the residential streets you can see the damage. by what you are describing, it does sound terrifying not knowing where the next missile is going to come from, and when? this is the central heart, the damage was made before this but why i showed this and shared this video is for you to realise how

deserted the city centre is because it is the second—largest ukrainian city, more thani million inhabitants, and the streets are completely empty and people are hiding, all the time they can hear air sirens and this is a normal working day and no one is on the streets, people try to take cover as quickly as possible and try to stay inside. we are also showing pictures at the moment of kyiv, belarus says it's summoned the ukrainian ambassador after its air defences brought down what it claims to be a ukrainian 5—300 missile in the border region. the country's state—run news agency, had earlier reported that a ukrainian missile had gone into belarus territory, during today's russian bombardment. retired air vice—marshal sean bell — who's also a military analyst — cautioned against seeing an ulterior

motive, behind the incident. the danger with all of these, a bit like we had in poland where a missile 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 perspective 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 found in an open field and there appears not to be any casualties at yet. the real question is why did it find itself there? the timing of this missile 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. recent polling showed 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 at least choose a lucrative target. it looks like an accident and incident as part of this dynamic and dangerous war that is happening in ukraine. israel's new government has been sworn in. it's the most right—wing government in the country's history. this was the scene inside israel's parliament, as it voted to approve the new government led by benjamin netanyhu. the alliance — consisting of ultra—orthodox jewish and nationalist parties — is seen as the most religious and hard—line

in the country's history. consequently it has stirred domestic and international unease, with protests taking place outside the parliament. the bbc�*s yolande knell — injerusalem — told us more about the new administration: we have a familiar face with benjamin netanyahu, but this is a very new look government coalition. he has teamed up with ultra—orthodox and ultranationalist parties to form his government and now we have his right—wing party appearing as the most moderate in the coalition, and it was very much remarked upon that actually they had elected as the new parliament respeaker a man who is openly gay and it will be the first time that someone who is gay has taken up that position. he addressed his husband and children who were sitting there for the parliamentary session and then you have new ministers who have been sworn in at the same time who are people who are very much opposed to his lifestyle. and one of the proposals

they are pushing forward, they have put on the coalition agreement, is to go for the change in anti—discrimination laws so that actually businesses in israel would be able to refuse to serve people on religious grounds, and the concern is that could really affect the lgbtq community, also members of israel's arab minority, and there are other things which were really animating the protesters who ijoined outside the parliament for a time. they are very worried about another plan which is to overhaul the legal system so that israel's parliament would have much greater power to overrule israel's supreme court. that affects checks and balances in the system and many people connect that to the corruption trial that mr netanyahu is still on. for charges which he denies and others say he should not be allowed to make changes that affect the independence of the judiciary because at the moment he has a conflict of interest when it comes to that.

lots more besides. a lot of people mentioned to me the fact that this far—right extremist man who has been convicted in the past for racism in israel is now the national security minister, responsible for the police and will have unprecedented control over the police because of new legislation that was passed which he demanded to join this coalition. italy's prime minister, georgia meloni, has urged the eu to follow its lead and roll out a mandatory screening programme across the bloc for visitors from china. it was introduced in italy on wednesday in a bid to identify any new variants of the virus. eu health officials have agreed to continue discussions on a common course of action in response to china's covid surge. several members said they didn't see the need for new testing measures introduced on wednesday by the us and china's asian neighbours. the uk defence secretary ben wallace says the government

is keeping its policy on travel restrictions for international arrivals under review. he was asked whether the uk might follow other nations and tighten entry rules on travellers from china. i think the government has said it will keep that under review and review whether different countries with covid outbreaks should face different restrictions. i think as we speak it is being reviewed and i will expect to see some clarification today or tomorrow. if that is indeed a decision we have seen in the last hour or so that india will now be covid testimg from several countries from asia, if that is the decision, how can we be sure that is not going to put too much pressure on an already overloaded nhs? that is a matter for the department for transport to work out the balance between medical advice it receives and indeed the flow of travel. there are hundreds of countries not seeking to do that and i think it is very important at this time of year what we do is make sure that those countries that don't have covid can travel freely to the united kingdom and vice versa, there are thousands

of british tourists right now who will be flying back to the uk and then of course making sure we target restrictions we do where there are places of greater concern, notjust with covid and we do that already with other medical conditions that have come elsewhere. but at the moment we are keeping it under review, look at the traffic and where people are coming from into this country, then we will make our views known. at least 21 people have been killed in a fire at a casino hotel, in north—west cambodia. police say more than 400 hundred people were in the building at the time. about 50 people have been injured, with many of them in a critical condition. aru na iyengar reports. flames and smoke billowing out from the grand diamond city casino in poipet, close to the thai border. it is feared dozens may have died here on wednesday night. rescue workers say

they saw people jumping from the building to escape flames. others were huddled on window ledges. a group were also seen packed onto a rooftop. it is thought the fire started on the first floor but spread quickly along carpets and leapt through the multistorey building. firefighters from thailand have been working with local cambodian emergency services to contain the blaze. a thai rescue team here in a stairwell put on masks and hoods before entering a smoke—filled corridor. many victims were taken to hospital, amongst them cambodians, thais and indonesians. poipet is a popular holiday destination for visitors from thailand where most forms of gambling are illegal. casinos are a key part of cambodia's tourism industry. this blaze follows two other fatal incidents in entertainment venues in thailand and vietnam this year. aruna iyengar, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. here in the uk, 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. but government ministers, insisted that they 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 in the pcs union 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, more 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 and it was for unions to negotiate with employers. and he rejected any suggestion that borders were less secure when manned by the armed forces. the borders are safe and secure, members of the armed forces that have come to help out when the strikes are on are carrying out a 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 walkouts. katie austin, bbc news. now, sport time. holly hamilton has all the news. netherlands forward cody gakpo said he was persuaded to join liverpool by his international captain virgil van dijk, who also plays at the premier league club. gakpo, who scored three goals at the world cup, willjoin liverpool from psv eindhoven for a reported initialfee of around 45 million dollars. it's been reported that manchester united were also chasing the player before liverpool sealed the deal. gakpo told the club's website that van dijk said the club is like a �*realfamily�*. his new bossjurgen klopp admitted this signing could impact further new arrivals in this window.

it's like this for all people in the world, the money spent has the impact on the money can spend. so it's not that it increased, but it's not nothing. it has nothing to do with each other. we know what we want to do and we will see if we can do it. and, yes, it is about money, of course, but it is more about how it always was, but the right players, really, really happy that we could get cody. ahead of the first grand slam of the season, novak djokovic has said his deportation from australia will stay with him for the rest of his life. djokovic was deported on the eve of lsat year's australian open for not being vaccinated against covid. he received a three—year travel ban from the country. the former world number one's visa ban was waived last month you can't forget those events, you know. it is one of those things that

sticks with you, it stays with you, i guess for the rest of your life. as i said, something i have never experienced before and hopefully never again. but it is a valuable life experience for me and something that, as i said, it will stay there, but i have to move on. and coming back to australia speaks how i feel about this country, how i feel about playing here. 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 on day 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 to be in vain for south africa. the third and final test in sydney starts on the 3rd of january. meanwhile in the first test in karachi, pakistan were 77 for 2 in their second innings at the close on day four — trailing by 97,

after new zealand declared their first innings on 612 for 9. kane williamson made an unbeaten double century. that's all the sport for now. roman catholic leaders around the world havejoined pope francis in calling for prayers for his predecessor, 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. 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 get some of the day's other news

an indian pharmaceutical company has suspended the manufacture of a cough medicine after uzbekistan said it had killed at least 18 children. the uzbek health ministry said a batch of the syrup — manufactured by marion biotech — was found to contain the toxic compound ethylene glycol. india is investigating the claims. a court in the georgian capital, tbilisi, has heard that former president, mikheil sa—kashvili, has been poisoned with heavy metals while in prison. at a hearing on whether he should be temporarily released on humanitarian grounds, a us toxicology expert said hair, nail and blood samples showed traces of mercury and arsenic. now if you're a rail enthusiast — this next story is for you. in five months time, passengers will be able to travel from london to berlin on a new european sleeper train service, with only one change in brussels. in 2024, the service is expected to reach prague in the czech republic — and with stop—overs in amsterdam and dresden, it comes a step closer

to realising the dream of pan—european eurostarjourneys, dreamt of more than 30 years ago. earlier i spoke withjonn elledge — a journalist specializing in transports — and a sleeper trains enthusiast. i am, i love a sleeper train, i often have taken the caledonian sleeper from london to the highlands and it is a lovely way of getting about because you don't have to do all of that annoying mucking about into airports and spending ages going through security. you just have a nice meal and it would be the most comfortable ——you just have a nice meal and it won't be the most comfortable night but you wake up somewhere new and that is always exciting. it is a resurgence going on in europe with sleepers? i think so. in last year's federal election the green party campaigned on a platform of re—establishing a european super network and you can see why because there is more consciousness around the need to stop taking short—haul flights and obviously europe is a reasonably small and compact

continent and high—speed rail is a logistical challenge there and people are thinking more about, if you are going for a weekend away, you can just get the train on a friday night and wake up in your destination on saturday morning. there really are something romantic about trains and sleeper services but i read, tell me if this right, that the biggest problem with the european sleeper initiative is the lack of sleeper carriages across europe, is that right? i believe that is correct. yes, i have read the same reports. it has gone out of fashion. think of the golden age of rail travel and murder on the orient express sort of trains. that is 70 years ago. here in the uk in the 1960s he ripped up a lot of the network under the beeching act.

just because most people started buying private cars in large numbers, rail travel started to look like the past rather than the future. we are seeing a correction, partly for environmental reasons and partly because it is just nice to sit and read a book while travelling. we were showing pictures of the inside of the sleepers and this new initiative, there will be compartments for six or four or three occupancy but i suppose that means you could be sleeping with strangers in the same compartment. i'm not sure i fancy that! no, obviously you pay more for a higher level of comfort. as i said, the caledonian one from london to scotland, it is set a similar range of features, the lowest fee is a seat sitting upright and then a cabin in the posh cabins come with weird combined toilet arrangements.

i don't know if i would fancy travelling with strangers either but there will be other options. that is at. focus is here, and it's coming up next. hello there. it's looking like the last few days of 2022 will be rather unsettled for most of us. low pressure, always nearby, so we'll see some pretty heavy rainfall, some strong winds and also a bit of snow over the high ground of scotland, and we see some cold air engage in at times. now, this first area of low pressure moving through on friday will bring some heavy rain, strong winds and be followed by more weatherfronts and rain rippling in from the southwest as we head into the new year weekend. some areas seeing quite a lot of rainfall over the next few days. southern, northern, western areas, particularly southwest scotland, northwest england could be very wet over the next few days. and we even have an amber rain warning in force across

south—southwest scotland for friday, risk of some localised flooding and travel disruption here. and that rain really will be piling into many northern and western areas as we move through this evening. certainly overnight, it'll be very heavy and persistent across southern scotland. that rain turning to snow over the mountains of scotland as we engage some colder air here. further south and east that you are, tending to stay dry really until we push into friday morning and temperatures recovering in the south, but it will be a windy, cold morning, very cloudy, very wet. some heavy rain across scotland, northern england pushing its way quite quickly into the north sea, and then it brightens up into the afternoon, a few blustery showers, southern and western areas, more persistent rain, some snow in the hills across northern scotland, but a good deal of sunshine around. but it will be a windy day for all. mild in the south, we're up to 11 to 13 degrees. that is above the seasonal norm, closer to the seasonal norm or even below across scotland. so for new year's eve, saturday, more weather fronts pushing in from the south west. it could be quite wet to start with across all areas. again, a wintry element to the rain across scotland, notjust the even

over the hills team down to lower levels as well. more rain pushing into england or wales later in the day and it will be windy and very mild. 111—15 celsius to end december 2022, something colder in the north. as we push closer to new year's eve midnight, it looks like there will be a dry slot of weather central, northern and eastern areas. but stay tuned to the forecast for the details for that a bit closer to the time. as we push into new year's day, the 1st of january, there will be rain across the far south east, some showery rain in the north. again, a bit of a wintry element to that. colder in the north, but staying on the mild side for england and wales. see you later.

hello you are watching bbc news.

2022 was a year whenim politics came at you fast. three prime ministers in the space of a few months, a mini—budget that had a dramatic impact within hours, all against the backdrop of a war in europe and the cost of living going up at its fastest rate in decades. but it all started with a hangover. tonight at ten, boris johnson faces new questions about apparent breaches of lockdown in downing street. the end of 2021 had been dominated by partygate and just days into the new year, there was more. itv got hold of an e—mail sent in may 2020 inviting more than 100 staff to bring their own booze to the downing street garden to make the most of the lovely weather. it came from borisjohnson's principal private

secretary martin reynolds.