this is bbc news broadcasting to viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm ben boulos. the headlines. russia claims its forces have captured the ukrainian town of soledar — but kyiv insists "severe" fighting is still ongoing. the gas pipeline connecting lithuania and latvia has an explosion. lithuania and latvia has an expl°5i°"-_ lithuania and latvia has an explosion. lithuania and latvia has an exlosion. f . . . explosion. they've launched an investigation. _ footballer benjamin mendy is found not guilty of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault. but he faces a retrial on two other counts on which the jury failed to reach a verdict. also in the programme, how the world cup may have given a much—needed boost to the uk's economy.

hello and welcome. russia says its forces have completed the capture of soledar, a salt—mining town in eastern ukraine that's been the focus of intense fighting. these are the latest aerial shots of the town. as you can see, it has been completely flattened from the relentless pounding by russian forces. after six months of russian military setbacks — it would be the first ukrainan town to be captured sincejuly. but ukraine's military denies that soledar has fallen and says that the fighting is still going on. the defence ministry in moscow said the capture of soledar would allow russian troops to cut off ukrainian forces in bakhmut, which they have been attacking for months. russia could also launch an assault

on the key city of kramatorsk. here's our correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse, on the significance of capturing soledar to russia. after three days of contradictions, frankly, it seems russia has finally settled on the claim of having taken the region finally. —— soldear. it's described it as an important step in their faltering described it as an important step in theirfaltering campaign, the step has almost been reduced to rubble. this with barely any buildings left standing. there is more at play here. the military gains for russia are still a for question. but the kremlin has had very little to cheer about for the last six months, the last time it took any key locations was in july last time it took any key locations was injuly around the cities, i remember it's come about what is what followed, ultimately, russia

would take those cities but ukraine would take those cities but ukraine would launch sizeable counter offences in the northeast and south. i think kyiv will be hoping this happens again. the language coming out of here at the moment is talking about making big decisions in the coming days and how hypothetically it wouldn't be a big defeats, so we may well see attack to call withdraw, and ultimately, if soldear does fall, it's not a given that russian forces would keep pushing, and i don't think it will have a sizeable influence on the outcome of this war. i'm joined now from kharkiv by maria avdeeva, a ukrainian security researcher who can tell us what ukrainian sources are saying about the situation. what are you hearing therefrom then? wild, the situation in that soldear is very tough, difficult, but according to them, ukraine still has control over the town. the town with

the population payware there barely 500 people, it is completely flattened because russia is day after day taking this small town and for what? just to get at least some success on the battlefield to show something to the population in russia because after humiliating defeats in the south of ukraine, russia is trying to show something to the conscripts to those untrained russian soldiers to die here in ukraine and to show them to at least some we need this victory and that is why they are trying so hard to get this small town, and this is in fact to my points, showing how the

russian army is, because after conscripting 300,000 soldiers, they are trying to push very hard to get this small town and still are not a ball to show any success. f. this small town and still are not a ball to show any success.- this small town and still are not a ball to show any success. f, as you are saying — ball to show any success. f, as you are saying they _ ball to show any success. f, as you are saying they are, _ ball to show any success. f, as you are saying they are, the _ ball to show any success. f, as you are saying they are, the capture . ball to show any success. f, as you are saying they are, the capture of| are saying they are, the capture of soldear would be more symbolic than strategic for russia, and if it is going to put a lot of effort and, how do you think ukrainian forces might respond? is it likely that they will throw everything added to try to hold on to soldear, or do you think they may not pursue it so relentlessly as russia is doing? well, for what we now know is that the situation there is still unclear because the ukrainian general staff is very clear that we are in full control of the town. still, they always ask to keep silent because the only people who know the

situation on the ground are ukrainian military who are now in the front lines in this extreme hold on the front lines. what drescher is clearly trying to do from the beginning of this invasion in february is to get control over the cities, because still, the territories to these regions are not controlled by russia. at the beginning of the invasion and russia is still trying to get at least something. so they need this symbolical achievement to show something and then probably try to push further, but from what we hear from the ukrainian army is that they, russians are pushing and all they, russians are pushing and all the time, day after day, night after night, attacking this region and and

ukrainian army is waiting for a more western weapons to come to defend. western weapons to come to defend. we know very good news that britain and poland have announced that they will send tanks to ukraine and this will send tanks to ukraine and this will probably be a game changer in this war. a, ., will probably be a game changer in this war. a, . ~ ., ., this war. 0k, maria, ukrainian security researcher _ this war. 0k, maria, ukrainian security researcherjoining - this war. 0k, maria, ukrainian security researcherjoining us, | security researcherjoining us, thank you very much for being with us here on bbc news. a gas pipeline connecting lithuania and latvia has been hit by an explosion. the transmission company, amber grid, is reported as saying that the blast was in the north of lithuania, and was still being looked at. footage shown on the lithuanian state broadcaster appears to show a fire breaking out in the area — residents of a nearby village are preparing to evacuate. the blast follows multiple explosions last september, which damaged two pipelines carrying

gas from russia. live to vilnius and we can speak to nemunas biknius, ceo of amber grid. bring us up—to—date with the situation as far as you are aware of it, the details you have.— it, the details you have. well, the fire broke out _ it, the details you have. well, the fire broke out in _ it, the details you have. well, the fire broke out in a _ it, the details you have. well, the fire broke out in a pipeline - it, the details you have. well, the fire broke out in a pipeline in - it, the details you have. well, the fire broke out in a pipeline in the. fire broke out in a pipeline in the northern part of lithuania around 150 km away from the capital city, and this pipeline is connecting lithuania and latvia. as we know at the moment, there are no injuries or no significant damages for the surrounding buildings. at the

moment, the gas supplies towards latvia, they are restored, and also the consumers of natural gas and lithuania, they will not be affected, that is what we know at the moment, yeah, there was an explosion in one of the pipelines. 0k. is there a possibility that this could affect supplies to people, given that we are in the middle of winter in northern europe is how many people could potentially be affected if this gas pipeline is damaged for a certain amount of time? fist damaged for a certain amount of time? �* ., ., ., ~ time? at the moment, we are working with our clients _ time? at the moment, we are working with our clients who _ time? at the moment, we are working with our clients who would _ time? at the moment, we are working with our clients who would not - time? at the moment, we are working with our clients who would not be - with our clients who would not be affected by this explosion because we have a pipeline, also we have several in that points towards lithuania, so we might use gas from poland also.

lithuania, so we might use gas from poland alsm— lithuania, so we might use gas from poland also-— poland also. 0k. chief executive of immigrant. we _ poland also. 0k. chief executive of immigrant, we must _ poland also. 0k. chief executive of immigrant, we must leave - poland also. 0k. chief executive of immigrant, we must leave it - poland also. 0k. chief executive of immigrant, we must leave it there | immigrant, we must leave it there for time reasons, but thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. much for “oining us here on bbc news. ., ~ much for “oining us here on bbc news. . ~ , ., the manchester city footballer — benjamin mendy — has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, after a six month trial at chester crown court. jurors failed to reach verdicts on two other charges, meaning he will now face a re—trial later this year. another man was also found not guilty of three counts of rape relating to two teenagers. 0ur north of england correspondent, danny savage, reports. he was the millionaire footballer who had the world at his feet. but what now for benjamin mendy? cleared of the majority of charges against him, but facing a retrial on two others a jury couldn't decide upon. so, come to the darkness. mendy lived here, a mansion in a prosperous cheshire village — where the court heard he ignored

lockdown rules and had parties. his trial heard he told one woman it would be her privilege to sleep with him. he would meet them in restaurants and nightclubs, arguably charmed them with his strong french accent and bring them back here. a country house, where the prosecution claimed some women felt vulnerable, scared and isolated. but a jury concluded that he wasn't guilty of six alleged rapes said to have happened here. and here is like the cinema place. this is mendy giving a guided tour of his gilded life. in court he gave evidence in his defence, insisting he hadn't forced anyone to do anything. mendy was a member of a world cup winning squad and won the premier league with manchester city. despite being cleared of many charges, it's hard to see him

resurrecting his career any time soon. one of the interesting things that came out at the trial was his own defence lawyer saying effectively his career in football in this country is over. and that was a recognition that in terms of the behaviour that came out in the trial and the way that he, by his own admission, treated women, it makes it very, very difficult to employ him. benjamin mendy�*s solicitor today said the player is delighted at being unanimously acquitted of eight out of ten charges he faced and that he looks forward to clearing his name in relation to the other two charges, so he can start rebuilding his life. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: tributes are paid the latest gdp figures and the impact the world cup may have had unexpectedly positively. do stay with us. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air

attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest. but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. l huge parts of kobe were simply demolished as buildings- crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no - advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. j tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing.

this is bbc world news, the latest headlines... ina in a moment, a story about a sportswear brand, but before that, let's get all the latest from hugh ferris. hello to you. the russian anti—doping agency have decided not to punish teenage figure skater after their investigation found she was not guilty of any doping offence, but they say they are concerned by that ruling. she was 15 at the time of last year's winter olympics when she held the russian 0lympics when she held the russian team to gold, it was then revealed that she failed a drug test the previous december, but they said that she bore no fault or negligence for that failed test. the rev anti—doping agency wanted a four year ban and have said they will not hesitate to exercise its right to appeal to the court of arbitration for sports. the english premier

league weekend starts tonight at villa park were two teams in the bottom half of the table that had a dramatic end to that third round fa cup tie just dramatic end to that third round fa cup tiejust a dramatic end to that third round fa cup tie just a few days ago. aston villa lost at home to fourth tier side to stephen h, despite that defeat, manager insists there have been improvements since he took over. ~ ., ., , over. we are doing some things so cuickl over. we are doing some things so quickly very _ over. we are doing some things so quickly very well. _ over. we are doing some things so quickly very well, defensively - over. we are doing some things so | quickly very well, defensively being organised, but we have to progress as well, changing a little bit of our mentality, being aggressive in our mentality, being aggressive in our ambition, our mentality, being aggressive in ourambition, realistic ambition our mentality, being aggressive in our ambition, realistic ambition and i think the players they are so open to work they are committed to work everything we are trying to do. newcastle boss says he had drop

their forward for sunday's premier their forward for sunday's premier the game after his arrest for drink—driving. the present and his help this team to third in the table was stopped by police during the area of early hours of yesterday morning and driving whilst above the prescribed limit of alcohol. he will premiere later this month. that she will appear in court later this month. i will appear in court later this month. ., ., . ., ., ., i, month. i have to reflect and analyse that. iwill month. i have to reflect and analyse that. i will make _ month. i have to reflect and analyse that. i will make a _ month. i have to reflect and analyse that. i will make a decision - month. i have to reflect and analyse that. i will make a decision closer. that. i will make a decision closer to the game in consultation with him. yes. i'm not100% sure. ithink you know was the seriousness of the situation. 0bviously you know was the seriousness of the situation. obviously i can't go into too much detail out of respect for the case, but i think he understands his responsibilities and we are now in a position where we are supporting him and, yeah, we also understand as a football cup the seriousness of the situation. judd trump has _ seriousness of the situation. judd trump has beaten _ seriousness of the situation. judd trump has beaten barry harkins in a thrilling quarterfinal and snicker�*s masters in london. at no point did

either pay or have more than a frame lead in a best of ii and a mess from hawkins in the decider was crucial. trump went on to construct the break that he needed to win the match by six frames to five in the 2019th champion will play shawn murphy stuart bingham in the semifinals. there quarterfinal is just under way. that's all the support for now. much more later on. adidas has lost a court case to stop fashion designer from using a four—stripe design. the sportswear brand argued that luxury brand, thom browne inc's design was too similar to their three stripe design. browne responded, arguing that consumers were unlikely to confuse the two brands partly due to the differenmt number of stripes. with me now is hayleigh bosher, senior lecturer in intellectual property law at brunel university. do you think adidas ever had a chance of winning this, or where do you draw the line, as it were, if a company were told they couldn't use

four stripes, company were told they couldn't use fourstripes, because company were told they couldn't use four stripes, because another company has three? i four stripes, because another company has three?- four stripes, because another company has three? i think adidas nearthat--- _ company has three? i think adidas near that. .. they've _ company has three? i think adidas near that. .. they've had _ company has three? i think adidas near that. .. they've had a - company has three? i think adidas near that. .. they've had a lot - company has three? i think adidas near that. .. they've had a lot of. near that... they've had a lot of cases recently and we have seen that they've done 90 lawsuit since 2008 and they have done 200 settlements, so they are big on taking the risk of enforcing their intellectual property, that includes two stripes, three straights, four stripes, they try their luck. three straights, four stripes, they try their luck-— try their luck. what is in it for them? what _ try their luck. what is in it for them? what did _ try their luck. what is in it for them? what did they - try their luck. what is in it for them? what did they fear, i try their luck. what is in it for i them? what did they fear, that try their luck. what is in it for - them? what did they fear, that it might somehow devalue their brand? but if it is a luxury designer who is using something similar, is there really any harm that could be done? yet, so a trademark is really there to protect the brand, and it is important to enforce your trademark because the worry is it you don't, it can dilute the value of the mark, so that is what they are doing when they are enforcing their mark, but they are enforcing their mark, but the real point in a trademark is for the real point in a trademark is for the consumer to be able to recognise, the wording is distinguished goods or services, so you understand as a consumer that

you understand as a consumer that you are buying adidas as opposed to something else, and if they put a very close branding to adidas on a different garment and you think you are buying adidas, then there is confusion. but like you said some of this brand in particular is high—fashion and it was on a jacket that cost £1200. it's a different markets, so i don't think there would have been it confusion —— different market. would have been it confusion -- different market.— would have been it confusion -- different market. how much wood losin: the different market. how much wood losing the court _ different market. how much wood losing the court case _ different market. how much wood losing the court case custody - losing the court case custody estimate on this kind of level? i think going to court is expensive and the physical cost of going to court, the lawyers committee also have the cost for the layers of the other side if you lose, it is extremely expensive procedure. there is also a wider cost and the fact that this has an impact on their brand image and also potentially has an impact on other cases. they bring lots of them, so this is not a good outcome for them.— lots of them, so this is not a good outcome for them. haley, thank you for exolaining _

outcome for them. haley, thank you for explaining all of _ outcome for them. haley, thank you for explaining all of that _ outcome for them. haley, thank you for explaining all of that for - outcome for them. haley, thank you for explaining all of that for us. - world cup football fans gave an unexpected boost to the uk's economy in november — according to new figures. 0utput rose slightly — by 0.1 % — but overall the economy still shrank over the three months to november. economists have suggested the latest data now makes it less clear whether the uk went into recession at the end of last year. 0ur economics editor faisal islam reports. at g—tech in worcester, their cordless vacuum cleaners sold well during the black friday discount in november, but founder nick gray says british consumers are far from cleaning up in current circumstances. we can very much tell that there's a little bit of tension in consumers, and we feel it ourselves. the winter world cup in qatar did cause an upsurge in spending in pubs and bars and on pizza delivery that helped the economy post surprise growth in the month of november. it could stave off a formal recession, at least for a bit. so this is what those numbers look like month to month.

you can see the economy shrank during covid — that's january 2021 — growing when the restrictions eased. and now the economy is still weak but mayjust have grown, or at least not fallen further, at the end of last year. however, what really matters now is this year, and you can see here that inflation should have peaked at the end of 2022, according to the forecast, but it's still high — driven, as you can see, by food prices in red, energy in blue and fuel in black. and although it is coming down, it's still very high across this year. and with interest rates rising too, this is when it eats into incomes. and inflation would have been even higher were it not for the government's energy price guarantee. the net effect, though, on the economy can be seen in this chart. the uk economy tanked during covid and is still, even after today's figures, smaller than it was in 2019 before the pandemic.

the government's own forecasts point to it not recovering to that 2019 level actually until the end of 2024, as households continue to be hit hard. so the question from today's figures is whether the british consumer isjust a bit more resilient to these shocks or if this was a world cup related one—off adding to the hangover from festive spending right now. back in worcester town centre, there's worry. we certainly have not had the heating on. i am very, very frugal with my heating and hot water, believe you me. we've not got the heating on atj the moment and stuff like that, just because you can't afford it. with interest rates set to be hiked further next month to around 4% and taxes going up too, the economy and households remain under recessionary pressure. faisal islam, bbc news. so — have britain's pubs and bars staved off recession in the uk?

we can speak to michael kill, who's the chief executive of the night time industry association. michael, last time you and i spoke, we were at a cocktail barjust before new year's eve talking about what a tough time the bars and pubs had had. it doesn't seem like they did that badly in november. the firures did that badly in november. iie: figures highlighted did that badly in november. "iie: figures highlighted today did that badly in november. i““i2 figures highlighted today that did that badly in november. ii2 figures highlighted today that pubs bars and venues have benefited in novemberfrom bars and venues have benefited in november from the world cup. experiencing 30—a0% increase in trade on match days, restaurants didn't fare as well, they had a more challenging training period where the matches were being shown. to be honest, the operating costs still remain very high and i think more importantly, independent businesses in particular are extremely vulnerable with the loss and challenging festive trading period where over 50% ofjust not built up that cash reserve to last through the early part of this year. 50. the early part of this year. so, when we _

the early part of this year. so, when we look _ the early part of this year. so, when we look at _ the early part of this year. so, when we look at the _ the early part of this year. so, when we look at the situation they are in now. how precarious is that? how much more sure—footed are they going into the next financial year given that the government has set out ways in the uk that it will help businesses with energy costs beyond april? the businesses with energy costs beyond aril? , ,. ., april? the energy relief scheme that was highlighted _ april? the energy relief scheme that was highlighted by _ april? the energy relief scheme that was highlighted by government - april? the energy relief scheme that| was highlighted by government really will not have a great impact on our sector as a whole but the threshold that we are setting out in the current state of play. the issue that we have as we have immediate challenges with regard to energy costs because we see at present to 300% increase on previous bills. so the challenge is still very clear ahead of us. costs are still about 40% up on previous years and we are also getting the impact of inflation to customers having less disposable income. more important, the festive period and the disruption and in train sports i think will impact the gdp figures that will come out for

december. ., . . ., ., ~ december. how crucial do you think the night-time _ december. how crucial do you think the night-time economy _ december. how crucial do you think the night-time economy is, - december. how crucial do you think the night-time economy is, what i december. how crucial do you think. the night-time economy is, what you the night—time economy is, what you represent, in terms of its contribution to uk economic growth? we have a huge part to play and economic growth and recovery of the uk, but we also need the financial headroom and that environment to be able to play our part, so it's hugely challenging at the moment but we are very keen to drive forward from innovation resilience within our sector is extremely strong, but we need a little bit of help from government to allow us be able to trade and to encourage economic growth across the uk. {liiq trade and to encourage economic growth across the uk. 0k, michael thank ou growth across the uk. 0k, michael thank you very _ growth across the uk. 0k, michael thank you very much. _ growth across the uk. 0k, michael thank you very much. the - growth across the uk. ok, michael thank you very much. the chief- thank you very much. the chief executive of the night—time industry association joining us here executive of the night—time industry associationjoining us here on bbc news. plenty mind that story, details of the three month trend as we touched on for the uk economy, thatis we touched on for the uk economy, that is online on the bbc news website or on the bbc news app as well if you are out and about on the go. back with the headlines injust

a few minutes. dojoin me then. see you soon. hello again. we've seen a drier, sunnier kind of day today with not as much rain around, but despite the drier weather, well, we've still got cause for concern in terms of flooding. this was a picture from the hills. you can see flooding of low lying fields, i think caused by the river severn. lots of flood warnings in force, and the majority of these are for stretches of the river severn. now, we've got more heavy rain to come overnight and into saturday. it's going to come from this developing area of low pressure that's just moving in at the moment. the rain turns really widespread and heavy across england and wales, where over the hills, we could be looking at another 70 millimetres of rain. this could make the flooding far worse as we head into the first part of saturday morning. and over recent days, we have seen some transport disruption, the floods affecting

roads and railways. we might see something similar heading into saturday morning. now, the good news is the rain does eventually start to clear out of the way with brighter weather following. but still, it could get worse in terms of flooding for some communities. rain tucks into scotland, northern ireland and north west england, with gale force gusts of wind developing here through saturday afternoon. and it will start to turn cooler for many areas, but still mild across east anglia in the south of england, where temperatures will reach 12 celsius. however, the second half of the weekend, colder weather is going to be moving its way in with the air coming down from polar regions, ultimately. there is a big drop in temperatures on the way. now, for sunday, many areas will have a bright day with some sunshine, a weak weather front bringing some thicker cloud, a few splashes of rain across parts of northern england, midlands, wales, northern ireland. showers in northern scotland turning wintry, and here temperatures just around 3—4 celsius. even in the south, it's going to feel quite a bit colder than it has done with highs of 8 celsius. into next week, what we do know

quite a bit about the weather, it is going to be colder, there will be widespread frost with some icy patches, and there will be snow showers that come all the way down to low elevations. but there are still some differences to be worked out between the models. take sunday night, for example, this is one scenario, heavy snow showers for northern scotland, could have some wintry showers across england and wales. however, there are different models that actually produce a deeper area of low pressure sunday night across england and wales, and that could bring a zone of disruptive snow that would be around into monday morning's rush hour. still some uncertainty, but we're watching this very carefully.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. russia says its forces have completed the capture of soledar, a town in eastern ukraine that's been the focus of intense fighting. there's been no confirmation from the ukrainian side. ajudge in new york has ordered donald trump's family business a gas pipeline has been hit by an explosion in the country's gas operators that it's launched an investigation. ajudge in new york has ordered donald trump's family business to pay a $1.6 million fine after being found guilty last month of tax fraud. the fine was the maximum allowable. at least seven people have been killed in alabama as a storm swept through douthern us states. tens of thousands of homes have been left without power in alabama