hello, good evening and welcome to your sports update from bbc news. non league wrexham are out of the fa cup after losing 3—1 at sheffield united. sheffield united managed to get the breakthrough in the second half through anel ahmedhodzic. but wrexham and striker paul mullin hit back. he equalised from the spot but then missed the chance to put them 2—1 up with less than 20 minutes to go. and the championship side made them pay, billy sharp put the blades ahead in the 94th minute before sander berger put wrexham to the sword deep into injury time to break welsh hearts.

and their award is a home tie against tottenham. elsewhere an injury time winner from nathan tella saw vincent kompany�*s burnley set up a last 16 match against league one fleetwood town who downed sheffield wednesday 1—0. also into the 5th round are fourth tier grimsby town whose reward for knocking out championship side luton town is a trip to bottom of the premier league southampton. well there was more hollywood drama in the scottish challenge cup as hamilton academical secured their place in the final. they took the lead in their semi final against scottish league one side queen of the south, before the underdogs pulled one back to take it to extra time. but this goal from ryan oney in the 96th minute was enough to send the hosts through. england head coach sarina wiegman has named a 26—player squad to face south korea, italy and belgium in the defence of the arnold clark cup later this month. captain leah williamson returns after missing the november international break with injury, while everton�*sjess park keeps her place after scoring on her debut in the 4—0 win over

japan in november. uncapped everton goalkeeper emily ramsey is called up for the first time while arsenal's beth mead remains sidelined with a knee injury. spurs midfielder bethany england also misses out. you cannot play the same players three times in a row within eight days. also with their schedule they have a club before this window and after this window so it is a great opportunity also to try out some things for all of us and also important for us to see more players and to get as much information about players at this time. well the lionesses success last year contributed to a doubling of the amount of time viewers spent watching women's sport in 2022 according to the women's sport trust. the research found the average viewer watched eight hours and 44 minutes of women's sport in 2022

compared with three hours and 47 minutes in 2021. last year's euros offered a boost of its own, with more than half of those watching the tournament who were new to women's sport, went on to watch more after england won the final. wales midfielderjoe allen has retired from international football at the age of 32. the swansea city player made 7a appearances for his country and helped the team qualify for three major tournaments, including last year's world cup in qatar. the ex stoke and liverpool player's news follows that of gareth bale who quit the international side, as well as all football, last month. leeds united have begun the interview process for their new head coach and hope to have an appointment before the weekend. leeds sacked jesse marsch yesterday. the club without a league win in seven games, and only outside the relegation places on goal difference and rayo vallecano manager andoni iraola is one of the names linked with the position. leeds take on manchester united tomorrow night at old trafford michael skubala is part of the team

replacing marsch in the meantime... jesse was a good guy and the team was working hard forjesse but they are used to changes, it is professional football and they are professional football athletes and i think the mood is... i would not say down but the mood is ok. the mood is about, we have to focus on manchester united we have to be positive and we have to go after three points. and that is all your sport for now.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all of the main news stories at the top of the hour straight after this news programme. across the uk, people are on strike. in england... there is a growing anger in this country. ..scotland... the workers united will never be defeated! ..northern ireland... horns sound ..and wales. how are people going to pay these bills? i workers spent more days on strike in 2022 than at any time since the 1980s. unions and bosses are further apart than ever. so why are they striking and is there an end in sight? these strikes are completely unnecessary. i'm finding it really hard, like, to heat my house, to feed my children. our members have been. getting poorer and poorer. at the end of the day, i they deserve a pay rise.

there has to be a reality check amongst the trade union colleagues about where that money would have to come from. no—one's taking it lightly but it's, kind of, the only way now we feel like we're going to be heard. if the union leaders - continue to be unreasonable, then it is my duty to take action. i'm not the grinch. i'm a trade union official and i'm determined to get a deal. the biggest strikes in a generation are happening even though fewer people are in unions. membership peaked in the late 1970s, when 13—million people were members. since then, it's declined to about 6.7 million people — about a quarter of the workforce. it's mostly in the private sector that union membership has fallen, but unions are still strong and able to flex their muscles elsewhere.

strikes, increasingly, are largely concentrated in the public sector or in the formerly public sector. so privatised utilities, for example. and we're seeing it in royal mail and we're seeing it, of course, the railways were privatised. trade unions are recognised for bargaining over pay and conditions in the public sector. that hasn't really gone away. it's been under challenge. it's got more fragmented but it still holds up. unions say strikes are a last resort and are usually called when negotiations break down. workers, when they vote to strike, first have to weigh up the alternatives. people have to see a serious injustice in the workplace and then, if they're in a unionised workplace, they think that the union can actually do something about it. and also that they think,

weighing up the costs and benefits, on balance, it's worth taking a deep breath and going on strike. the current wave of strikes has echoes in history. the uk's biggest industrial action was in 1926. the general strike shook the country, with coal miners playing a central role. one in ten men or boys of working age were employed in the coal industry. now, miners had won important gains in the 19105 and then during the first world war by having established a national system of pay bargaining. so there was an attempt by employers to abandon national minimum and to reduce the overall volume of wages, so miners resisted and workers, trade unionists in other sectors of the economy, joined them in a sympathetic strike — the general strike. the government of the time,

including the chancellor of the exchequer, winston churchill, refused to back down. after nine days, most unions called off their strikes, leaving the miners out on their own. they were ultimately unsuccessful in that the national system of pay awards was abolished in coal mining. protesters: two, four, six, eight, castle must negotiate! _ fast forward to the 1970s and the so—called winter of discontent, rolling strikes across lots of industries stopped work. rubbish piled up in the streets as refuse collectors joined the walk—outs. workers were attempting to protect themselves against attacks on their cost of living and they were on strike because many of them worked in the public sector and their wages were being controlled downwards by the then labour government that was trying to seek a way out of the high levels of inflation in britain in the 19705, very similar to the 20205 where we are today.

the disruption then was the biggest in modern times, with 29—million working days lost. estimates for today's strike suggest the total for 2022 could be 2—million. in may 1979, a conservative government led by margaret thatcher was elected and, within months, it passed new laws to limit the power of trade unions. they've certainly become less influential. they became less influential from the 19805 to the 20105. i believe they're becoming more influential now. just as in 1979, today's strikes are being driven by powerful forces of economics. the covid pandemic saw a pay freeze on many workers, and just as things were getting back to normal, came the war in ukraine, causing a huge increase in the cost of energy. we want 10%!

workers are experiencing the deepest and longest wage squeeze in 200 years. the cost of living crisis, energy prices soaring, the cost of fuel and household goods and food. people are on their knees and they're saying, "we need more. "we need a fair pay rise." inflation hit 11% as the latest wave of strikes began. the institute for fiscal studies estimates the cost of raising pay to match that across the whole of the public sector would be £18—billion. the government says that increase is unaffordable and would make inflation worse. we need to make sure that in the round, the decisions that we take don't have big economic impacts, both in terms of causing an inflationary 5piral, in terms of other wage ri5e5 a5ked by other people in the economy. also, putting money into the economy, it causes prices to go yet higher. and that's why these are very,

very difficult decisions. unions point out pay is rising more slowly in the public sector than elsewhere in the economy. public sector pay has risen on average 11% to 5% in 2022, according to the ifs. in the private sector, it's gone up about 6%. critics of unions, however, point to other factors in the argument. the people who are 5craping a living lat the moment are people working i in things like retail, - agriculture — low productivity industries with low pay. the public sector... l you know, it's certainly true that l nurses are perhaps not paid as much as they are in some other countries and so forth, but nur5e5 earn morej than the national average. unions say some of their members are on the lowest pay and they say working conditions in the public sector are being worsened, too. it's about the staffing crisis that's been driven by 12 years of those pay cuts, but also a lack of adequate funding

that has meant we've got real work intensification, excessive and unsustainable workloads. elsewhere across the economy, it's about insecure work, it's about attempts to reduce people's pensions and attacks on kind of increasing casualisation, so it is a range of factors. but bosses insist workers�* demands can only be met if unions accept the need to change and modernise. look at the railways, for example, where many of these issues - have been unresolved - for generations, literally. if you take the sort of weekend rota arrangement, it's always been - dependent on overtime. that system was being argued about 50 years ago, right, - and it's still here today. and, you know, if we want to make our public and qua5i _ public, like the railways, - have a sustainable increase in pay over time, and that's _ what we all want to see in a sense,

then they've got to i increase productivity. money doesn't come from nowhere. it has to be funded, ultimately, by the industry itself. _ the research shows us that pay strikes tend to be effective, not necessarily in getting all that's claimed, but certainly in achieving a gain. it helps if you're in an occupation which isn't easily substitutable. an example of that is the barristers�* strike. you can't suddenly bring in a whole load of replacement barristers to substitute for that job. barristers won one of the largest pay settlements of 2022, calling off their strike in november after the government offered a 15% increase in their fees. and there was a pay deal worth up to 16% for members of the cwu union

after a walk—out at bt. here's how the union praised that agreement to its members. months of but such victories come at a cost. the general public has faced months of disruption, with unions targeting the busiest periods to strike and co—ordinating their action with other unions. border force staff at the uk'5 l bu5ie5t airport5 announce eight days of strike action. this is a country right now where receiving a letter, catching a train, getting a driving test, even being collected by an ambulance or seeing a nurse might not happen. 124 different government _ departments, people who work in job centres, in tax office5, - in the department for transport, culture, in museums and galleries.

this really is a very bitter dispute and there is no end in sight. of course, it's regrettable that inconvenience is caused and, wherever possible, our members seek to minimise that, but when you've got an employer who won't budge, who won't listen, that often is the last resort to many workers. and it's an important part of the tool box that they have in order to get an employer to come and negotiate and sit round the table. but it is at the workforce's discretion to withdraw their labour. it's a fundamental right that they have. that right to strike is limited by laws which have made it harder to go on strike. unions have to hold a ballot with members voting by post. a strike can only happen if 50% of them turn out. where important public services are at stake, at least 40% must vote in favour. and since the summer, employers are allowed to bring in agency workers to replace those striking. but those aren't the only reasons

going on strike can be difficult. it's a very risky, it's a very stressful thing to do. it can mean difficult relations with your colleagues. certainly it can mean difficult relations with your immediate managers. it's not an easy decision. strike action, historically, has not been a course of action for all workers. there are some groups which haven't been able to do so. the police are one group, prison officers are another, and military personnel. the government is proposing extending some of those restrictions to other parts of the public sector, including paramedics and firefighters. that follows other legislation introduced over the years to reduce the impact of strikes. the laws on who can strike and where have changed since the 19705. now it's only possible to go on strike when you're in direct dispute with your employer

at your own place of work. a poll in october found 60% of the public generally support workers taking industrial action, with 33% opposed. but will that support continue? we think that public support is really enduring. we know that everyone is looking to this industrial action because it means something for them, too. a win for members taking action is a win for all and that public support is really important to keep that pressure on employers, on government, to make sure that those workers get a fair pay deal. i think public opinion on this can be very volatile. - at the moment, for example, - there's plenty of support for nurses and medical worker5, generally. whether that will be maintained i if there were serious 5trike5 over a long period of time, _ where waiting lists were going up and up and up and up, i doubt.

ithink, you know, opinion i could 5hift very, very quickly. whistle blows for now, these strikes are going to impact many of us — students, patients, passengers and all the other users of the industries taking action. the number of strikes has risen, with no sign so far of a resolution. so, what's the way out? the way to end the current wave of strikes is to ensure that we get wages rising across britain. the priority for the government is to stabilise the economy and to grow the economy and in order to do that you need to make sure that workers have wages in their pocket that mean they can not only keep their heads above water but they can go out and continue to stimulate demand in the economy. thi5 intensive period of strike action will come to an end. people's personal circumstances, people can't survive without wage5,

and they can only carry it on for a certain amount of time. most people don't have large savings to buffer them again5t difficult times. most people are not being affected by these 5trike5. i unless the government sort of bottles and gives in, - i think these 5trike5 will settle down. i we won't have these _ inflation—busting pay increases. but it does depend on the government having the will to, _ you know, override temporary unpopularity on this. - a5 inflation declines, the pressures themselves, the immediate pressures that are so acute that make people prepared to take strike action, will decline as well. people adju5t again... ..to making their already declined wage5 5tretch, because it's that much easier to make it 5tretch when inflation isn't as high

as it is at the moment.

patchy fog caused disruption for some on tuesday morning and there's likely to be more of the same on wednesday, but mainly in the south of the uk where we have the influence of this area of high pressure and some light winds. further north and west, a very different type of weather. this weather front pushing in from the north—west and ahead of it, lots of isobars on that chart, some increasingly strong winds, but with light winds further south for central and southern parts of england into wales, we will see some fog patches. perhaps a little more widespread than on tuesday morning and some of that fog could be quite slow to clear.

but across england and wales, we should see some spells of sunshine. northern ireland and scotland tending to see more cloud, some rain getting into the north—west of scotland. and ahead of that, some very strong and gusty winds with gusts of perhaps 75 miles per hour in exposed spots in the north—west of scotland. temperatures generally between 7—10 degrees, but it may stay a little colder than that if you keep fog with you for any length of time across the south. now, as we head through wednesday night, we'll see this band of rain, maybe some snow over higher ground on its back edge, and that will push its way southwards and eastwards. this weather front weakening as it goes, it's running into an area of high pressure. some wintry showers starting to develop across scotland, especially over some of the hills and mountains. but in shetland especially, could see some snow to low levels for a time. those showers tending to ease as we move through the day on thursday. it will still be quite windy across the northern half of the uk. further south, spells of sunshine and highs of 8 or 9 degrees. now, our area of high pressure builds across the south

as we move into friday. but this next frontal system running across the north of the uk and this weather set—up will deliver winds from the atlantic — quite a mild wind direction, so temperatures will tend to rise on friday. on friday, we will see cloud and some outbreaks of rain across parts of scotland, the far north of scotland seeing some heavy rain, some patchy rain perhaps into northern ireland, northern england. best of the sunshine further south, but temperatures climbing — 9 degrees for cardiff, maybe 12 or 13 in aberdeen. and then as we head into the weekend, well, this area of high pressure will still be close by. frontal systems just running across the top of that high and still some quite brisk winds in the north as well. further south where the winds are light, well, we may well return to a story of mist and fog and there'll be some quite large areas of cloud around at times, but equally some spells of sunshine, perhaps the best of the sunshine in sheltered eastern spots where temperatures could well climb to 12 or 13 degrees, certainly above the norm for the time of year. then we look ahead to sunday — still some patchy fog across parts of england and wales.

further north, northern ireland and scotland, the winds probably too strong for much in the way of fog. there will be some patches of cloud, some sunny spells and temperatures still 9—11, maybe 12 degrees, so still on the mild side of what we might normally expect. now, as we head into next week, it looks like our area of high pressure will, at least for a time, have less of an influence. and we'll see frontal systems pushing in from the atlantic, bringing some outbreaks of rain at times, maybe cold enough for some wintry showers in the north, but generally speaking, this weather set—up will be mild. the big question mark is all about this area of high pressure. it may try to build its way back northwards at times, and that would introduce some drier weather at times through next week across the south. but more generally, we're expecting outbreaks of rain at times, often windy. generally, it will be mild and we probably won't have so many problems with fog.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines... the extraordinary moment when a three year old girl is pulled out alive from the rubble of the earthquake that's devastated turkey and syria. meanwhile, rescue workers continue the search for survivors — as the number killed soars to more than seven thousand. some of the worst affected areas are near the earthquake's epicentre — the bbc�*s anna foster is one of the first journalists to reach the heart of the disaster zone. if you picture eight, nine, ten buildings all collapsed in a row, the debris mixed together. it is astonishing and that is replicated across what is a big city here.

in othe news — president biden is due