resolution on aid for gaza — hours after the vote is delayed for a fourth time. and as a spacecraft prepares to dispose of the waste from on board the international space station. we'll take a look at exactly what happens to junk in space. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the czech government has declared a national day of mourning following a mass shooting in which at least 1a people were killed and dozens more injured. police said the gunman was a 24—year—old student who's been named by local media as david kozak. the shooting happened in the heart of prague as the gunman opened fire at charles university's faculty

of arts, in the city's old town, a major tourist attraction. authorities evacuated staff and students, who were told to stay put and lock themselves inside classrooms. some climbed on to rooftops and window ledges to escape the gunfire. the shooting is the deadliest in the czech republic's history in a country where gun crime is relatively rare. sarah rainsford reports from prague. the centre of prague was suddenly transformed today into a major crime scene. armed police rushed towards a university building as a gunman stalked the corridors there. at that point, he was still on the loose. and these were the scenes at charles university — desperate students clinging for their lives to a ledge. their fear of falling overtaken by their fear of the gunman, metres away on the roof.

as the shooting began, students had to barricade themselves into classrooms, told to hide with the lights off. down below, crowds scattered in fear, ordered to clear the area and take cover. although many had no idea what danger they were running from. prague is full of tourists this time of year. some described hearing shots fired and panic. multiple ambulances were sent to the scene. some of those injured are in a very serious condition. gunshots weren't obvious at first. i remember the first one, i looked atjoe and said, "is that... 7" — almost questioning myself. then you saw people running and heard a few screams and you thought, "it can't be." you tell yourself, you see it on the news and think, you are not going to be in it. in that situation. and then you hear another one, and another one.

and we were like — and we heard police sirens and then it became clear, we need to get out of here. the attacker has now been named by local media as david kozak. they say he made disturbing posts leading up to the shooting on a social media account. translation: l have no - understanding of the motive yet. i'm talking about a high performing student who got inspired by another heinous act elsewhere in the world. the czech government announced the man behind the attack had been eliminated, as they put it. his father had been found dead at his home earlier in the day. the motive is not clear yet, but the government says there is no link to international terrorism. it is the worst shooting in this country in decades and a huge shock. sarah rainsford, bbc news, prague. the united nations security council has again delayed a vote on a resolution calling

for a halt to the fighting in gaza. it's the fourth time it's been postponed this week. it has been delayed since monday as member states try to work out a draft that the united states won't veto. our united nations correspondent nada tawfik has the latest from new york. what i heard from one diplomat is that they've made more progress today than they have all week and that they are narrowing the gaps. what we have received is the latest draft resolution and it is different in key aspects from the last proposal. now, instead of calling for a suspension of hostilities, the draft now calls for urgent steps to immediate allowance of safe and unhindered humanitarian access with creating conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities, so the wording there toned down from the original draft. the resolution on the table now also appoints a senior humanitarian and reconstruction

co—ordinator that will then appoint a un mechanism to try to speed up aid into gaza. so, it is all quite a mouthful but these are the proposals on the table. this was made to try to prevent a us veto to get the united states on board with this resolution. after the meeting ended, the us ambassador to the united nations spoke to reporters. we do have that resolution now, we are ready to vote on it and it's a resolution that will bring humanitarian assistance to those in need, it will support the priority that shall pass insuring that we put a mechanism on the ground that will support humanitarian assistance and we are ready to

work for it. live now to gina abercrombie—winstanley, a former us ambassador and the president of the middle east policy council. fantastic to have you with us in the programme today, ambassador. first off, you've been following events closely, listening to that later statement from the current investor, do you think that the us is now ready to agree? absolutely. i know how very hard and busted thomas—greenfield worked on this issue and what us diplomats are doing in new york, from my own experience, i know how tough this negotiations can be but it is clear, from the things that happened before, the us was determined to get to a language that would allow us to support or at least abstain on this resolution.— or at least abstain on this resolution. . ., resolution. what was so tough about this _ resolution. what was so tough about this resolution - resolution. what was so tough about this resolution for - resolution. what was so tough about this resolution for the i about this resolution for the united states because other

members didn't seem to have the same issues with it?— same issues with it? yes, well, as ou same issues with it? yes, well, as you know. — same issues with it? yes, well, as you know, the _ same issues with it? yes, well, as you know, the united - same issues with it? yes, well, as you know, the united states| as you know, the united states is very close to israel and the concerns of the israelis were definitely taking into account as well as ourselves being convinced of their importance. the government of israel and the united nations to have a continuous relationship over the years and there was expressed distrust from the israeli government about how good going into the gaza strip would be screened and they should be able to have some sort of role in that. that would have been something that would have been something that would have been something that would have had the bin worked out very specific language and i imagined that the four delays were getting to exactly that. what do you make than of any language within this draft of the resolution? concerning the civilians in gaza?—

civilians in gaza? well, the most important _ civilians in gaza? well, the most important thing, - civilians in gaza? well, the most important thing, of i most important thing, of course, is getting this assistance into civilians in gaza. i think all parties with the negotiations, the want to introduce it, the act states, the israelis behind this are now part of the security council, understood this must get done. and i am sure that there was a lot of pressure on — questions from the united states in our negotiations with israel to make clear that this had to get done. the first most important thing is saving lives and we all understand that the urgency of that. there is certainly the ability to lawder temperature in the region. certainly, as we all looking at images on television, the devastation that is in gaza, we are moving away from the original sympathy that we had for israel at the beginning of these attacks so, we know that

radicalisation as happened in the region, hopefully it will lower the temperature there, hopefully, lower the temperature for the fighting thatis temperature for the fighting that is happening in other parts, the northern border of israel, from lebanon, hezbollah, iraq and syria and many things that can officially happen from this clear ability to get this assistance into the gaza strip and lift that burden from the civilians. are gaza strip and lift that burden from the civilians.— from the civilians. are you surprised _ from the civilians. are you surprised at _ from the civilians. are you surprised at all— from the civilians. are you surprised at all by - from the civilians. are you surprised at all by how - from the civilians. are you j surprised at all by how the from the civilians. are you - surprised at all by how the un security council has worked so hard, this week, on the resolution? what does that tell us about what has taken place and in terms of discussions that have been taking place, behind—the—scenes? what sort of things would be happening? yes. things would be happening? yes, lots of conversations, _ things would be happening? 133 lots of conversations, minute by minute, if not, every five minutes. the negotiations of

hallways would have been buzzing, people pulling in for side meetings, phone calls, new york checking back with washington, are the representatives checking back with capitols. israelis, egyptians, americans, iraqis, talking, trying to get to a place where everyone can agree. it's clear the united states has been increasingly uncomfortable with having to veto these resolutions. we wanted to get to a place for agreement and certainly, we understand the need to get assistance into civilians. the president spoke about indiscriminate bonding, the secretary of state spoken about the importance of following the law of on conflict and protecting civilians, you have seen demonstrations in the united states, you see them stretched around the world, there is also pressure on countries who signed up to the abraham report so there was...

and busted, if they been working so diligently on this particular resolution to get the wording, as exact as possible, does that then point to any legal standing that this resolution would have, how binding would have be, compared to the statement or resolution that would have been passed by the general assembly, for example, this is another security council. absolutely. and certainly _ security council. absolutely. and certainly resolutions - security council. absolutely. and certainly resolutions of. and certainly resolutions of the security council have far more weight than those that come out of the general assembly, the general assembly are not binding, they are more, what we call in the united states, an expression of intent that congress would do. this security council, when you get all the members agreed and we've seen time and time again, where there is israel or ukraine or other incidents around the world, how difficult it is to get all of the members

to agree so when that happens, the weight of the resolutions is significant. obviously, you know, this isn't a chapter five, no—one has said they will send troops if people do not follow the resolution but the weight is the cliff again. and it's the expectation that it will be implemented as it is passed. will be implemented as it is assed. , ., passed. gina _ abercrombie-winstanley, passed- gina — abercrombie-winstanley, thank abercrombie—winstanley, thank you very much for your time today. you very much for your time toda . ~ , ,., , let's get some of the day's other news now. a court in the us state of washington has acquitted three police officers of murder and manslaughter over the death of manuel ellis, a black man they had been restraining. lawyers for the officers described their actions as self—defence. the american actor vin diesel has been accused of sexual assault by his former personal assistant. in a lawsuit, asta jonasson

claims the incident happened during the filming of fast five in 2010. a lawyer for the actor, who's real name is mark sinclair, said his client "denies this claim in its entirety". rudy giuliani has filed for bankruptcy protection, a week after a jury ordered donald trump's former lawyer to pay almost $150 million in damages to two georgia election workers. he had falsely accused them of helping to rig the presidential election against mr trump. a court in hong kong has rejected a request by the pro—democracy campaigner and media tycoon, jimmy lai, to drop a sedition charge against him. the founder of the now defunct tabloid apple daily has been charged, under a colonial—era law, with conspiracy to publish seditious publications. he's also facing two other serious indictments under china's national security law, including collusion with foreign forces. mr lai has pleaded not guilty.

the government changed its plans raise the minimum salary needed to earn to bring foreign family members to live in the uk. currently, applicants need to earn just over 18,500 to apply for a family visa. -- £18,500. this was due to rise to almost £39,000 in april. however, a new government document suggests this rate would lowered to £29,000 in its initial implementation. our political correspondent ione wells has more on what these changes mean for both british citizens and migrants working in the uk. for what this change means is that effectively when it comes into force in the spring, it will now mean that someone who was in the uk a british citizen in the uk who wants to bring a family member, dependent to come and live with them will now only need to earn £29,000 as opposed to a higher threshold that was initially proposed. that will mean effectively that

will be potentially more people eligible to bring dependence to uk on the family visa however, there's been a mixed responses with some non—profit groups represent is affected by this unhappy with the confusion this is causing for people who either may be british citizens are settled here mind to bring family or maybe family members are people crying in the uk lived abroad were wondering where that threshold is going up because we do not know from ministers when they plan to implement the higher threshold that they pledged. that was ione wells there. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. further disruption is expected to public transport in northern ireland today

as three trade unions take part in strike action. members of unite, gmb and siptu are involved in industrial action in a dispute over pay. no translink bus or rail services are scheduled to operate due to the strike. police have arrested a 41—year—old woman after a four—year—old boy died after being found with knife injuries at a residential propery in east london. the woman, who police say was known to the boy, was arrested on suspicion of murder. police say they aren't looking for anyone else in relation to the incident. over 700 archaeologists have signed an open letter urging the heritage sector to take the lead in the debate over a two mile tunnel which would run under stonehenge. the plans were approved by the government injuly. the letter, signed by leading archaeologists says more opinions from the within heritage sector are needed to inform the debate.

you're live with bbc news. i'm at lu kwesa i'm at lukwesa burak. in a few hours' time an unmanned spacecraft will depart the international space station, but instead of returning to earth it will perform a planned destructive re—entry into earth's atmosphere, where it will disappear. the contents of the cygnus spacecraft will be space junk — trash from on board the international space station. the process is the traditional way of disposing of satellites and spacecraft at the end of their lifespan, but how safe is it? let's answer that question and much more and go live to alice gorman, an associate professor of space archaeology, and all round spacejunk expert, at the flinders university in adelaide. hello to you, professor, and welcome to the programme. space

junk, why is it so critical that we work out the best way, the safest way to get rid of it? ~ . , the safest way to get rid of it? u . , ., a, it? well, currently, low earth orbit is filled _ it? well, currently, low earth orbit is filled with _ it? well, currently, low earth orbit is filled with satellites l orbit is filled with satellites which have ceased working, fragments which have broken through collisions, bits of old fuel, and tiny, tiny particles, millions of them, which are creating a very congested environment, so the risk of collision is increasing and every time a piece of space junk collides with another spacecraft or piece of space junk it creates more bits. so the problem becomes exacerbated. so disposal of used spacecraft and waste in spaceis used spacecraft and waste in space is a burning hot topic at the moment and this, of course, includes the kind of waste that is produced by crudites dais —— maguiess playstation such as the international space station. ,, ., the international space station-— the international space station. ,, ., , ., station. so when it enters our atmosphere — station. so when it enters our atmosphere or _

station. so when it enters our atmosphere or travel - station. so when it enters our atmosphere or travel through | station. so when it enters our. atmosphere or travel through it absolutely is incinerated. there is no risk of any of that falling back down to earth, is there? ~ ,., , falling back down to earth, is there? ~ , , , ., there? well, sometimes bits of sace there? well, sometimes bits of space junk _ there? well, sometimes bits of space junk to — there? well, sometimes bits of space junk to make _ there? well, sometimes bits of space junk to make it _ there? well, sometimes bits of space junk to make it to - there? well, sometimes bits of space junk to make it to the - space junk to make it to the surface of earth. they are most often from uncontrolled re—entries. the spacecraft from the international space station are very much controlled any purposeis are very much controlled any purpose is to get them to burn up purpose is to get them to burn up in the upper atmosphere, so with this kind of space junk there is no risk to people on there is no risk to people on the surface of earth or buildings or property at all. are there any atmospheric remnants from the process that could be a risk to us? amen, could be a risk to us? amen, could fall back down to earth for some form of polluter rain? —— | for some form of polluter rain? —— i mean. for some form of polluter rain? -- i mean-— -- i mean. generally not. but this does— -- i mean. generally not. but this does not _ -- i mean. generally not. but this does not mean _ -- i mean. generally not. but this does not mean there - -- i mean. generally not. but this does not mean there are| -- i mean. generally not. but. this does not mean there are no risks. some recent research has found that when spacecraft incinerated in the upper atmosphere that actually produce a lot of particulates, little tiny, tiny bits of

matter, this includes salt and alumina, a byproduct of aluminium burning. so they don't fall back to earth but they are actually becoming a problem because they can affect the stability of the ozone layer and that's something we thought would solve the ozone problem back in the 1990s, but with enough spacejunk problem back in the 1990s, but with enough space junk you could start to impair the ability of the ozone layer to shield us from the sun's incredibly savage ultraviolet. humans are so good at messing things up for themselves, really, aren't they? what future options do we have? well, some future options include managing the waste on the international space station better. there are a lot of plastics and single use objects that go up there. so working out the right balance of stuff that needs to be incinerated, stuff that can be recycled that sort of thing. but does not

actually the biggest problem with spacejunk. the biggest problem with spacejunk with spacejunk. the biggest problem with space junk is old satellites and there are thousands and thousands of these. so, fortunately, the space community is working hard on mechanisms to remove space junk from earth orbit or recyclers into rocket fuel or even potentially for future orbital structures, future habitats or refuelling stations or something. the people are working hard on this problem, but we need to monitor it carefully. but we need to monitor it carefully-— but we need to monitor it carefull . ., ., carefully. you said that the best way — carefully. you said that the best way to _ carefully. you said that the best way to control - carefully. you said that the best way to control things l carefully. you said that the | best way to control things is to control re—entry back into the atmosphere before it is destroyed. what are the factors that are controlled? 50. that are controlled? so, spacecraft _ that are controlled? so, spacecraft can _ that are controlled? so, spacecraft can be - that are controlled? srr, spacecraft can be managed that are controlled? 5p, spacecraft can be managed at their end of life in a number of different ways, what we need to do is remove all of the fuel and ensure it is not going to spontaneously explode or you

can leave enough fuel in it to make sure you can do that control re—entry, which will make it burn up but of course then you have those residual particles that pose a risk as well. there are a lot of people working on different kinds of spacecraft material that will have a lower environmental effect, so there has been some interesting proposals for using wood and bamboo, would you believe? ~ ., wood and bamboo, would you believe?- some - wood and bamboo, would you believe?- some of- wood and bamboo, would you believe?- some of it - wood and bamboo, would you believe?- some of it is l believe? wow. some of it is about managing _ believe? wow. some of it is about managing the - believe? wow. some of it is about managing the whole l about managing the whole mission from start to end, figuring out what to do with that spacecraft when it has completed itsjob. some of that spacecraft when it has completed its job. some of it's about knowing where things are so we can calculate the risk of collision and reduce the amount of new degree that might be created. in some of it is about international cooperation. filth. international cooperation. 0h, alwa s, international cooperation. 0h, always. it _ international cooperation. 0h, always. it is — international cooperation. 0h, always, it is always _ international cooperation. 0h, always, it is always about political will. professor alice gorman, i'm sojealous of political will. professor alice gorman, i'm so jealous of your little spacecraft you are sitting in there. why have

plenty more questions. but thank you very much, thank you, it has been really educational. thank you. my pleasure. i love it. richest lottery. large queues formed outside of kiosks ahead of the nationally televised draw for the christmas lottery, which features children singing out the winning numbers and matching prizes. the lottery will dish out more than 2.5 billion euros. the top prize known as el gordo or the fat one pays out 400,000 euros to the winning ticket holders. as well as many other prizes as well. many people like to build a gingerbread house for the festive season but teams of bakers in new york have taken it a step further. they've created 23 gingerbread displays featuring various new york city icons and landmarks including the apollo theater, yankee stadium, and brooklyn bridge. it took the bakers 3,500

hours and over a50 kilos of gingerbread dough to create their masterpieces. a bronx—based all—women team called patty pops, took home the top prize of best overall for their 50 years of hip—hop creation. so the displays that you see of you this year, the theme is iconic new york. each of the bakers was tasked to come up with some iconic place or thing that best represents their burrow, the community, or their neighbourhood. so we have displays from all five boroughs including staten island. do stay with us me, coming up shortly, i'm sure he will appreciate this, ijust shortly, i'm sure he will appreciate this, i just want to show you one of the guests we will be having on the business

programmejust will be having on the business programme just after the break. that is just programme just after the break. that isjust an. programme just after the break. that is just an. can we bring him up very quickly. there he is. he is coming up after the break. and his cat. iam not is. he is coming up after the break. and his cat. i am not to be with us. butjustin will be taking us through the economics of shipping and the current crisis that is taking place through the suez canal and the red sea as yemen's houthi rebels continue to target the many ships and containers that are passing through that really key marine thoroughfare. so thatis key marine thoroughfare. so that is coming up shortly on bbc news. in the meantime, you can always keep up—to—date with all the top stories on our website. stay with us. hello. at long last, we've reached that turning point to the year in which days gradually start to stretch out. once again, it is the winter solstice today, barely five hours and 50 minutes of daylight at lerwick.

but come the 20th ofjune next year, there'll be nearly 19 hours. now, the weather today, though, not quite as windy as it was yesterday, this is the remnants of storm pia and it's going to cause huge problems around parts of north east germany and poland. we're though still in the wake of it with plenty of cloud pushing its way in and weather fronts, which will stop the temperature from dropping too much tonight across much of the uk, the exception being northern scotland. so cold and winter here, icy conditions around, more snow flurries in shetland and a bit of snow mixed in with the rain in northern scotland but turning bright at later in the day. brightening up too across wales, southern parts of england, the channel islands after a cloudy start with some patchy drizzle. but this zone from south west scotland, northern ireland through northern england towards east anglia, staying rather cloudy throughout the day. outbreaks of rain. now, whilst it's not as windy as yesterday, that northwest wind is still going to be quite gusty in places and it will limit the way things feel. maybe not quite as mild as it was during thursday, but barely above freezing in shetland. now with that cold air in place, weatherfront pushing its way in through friday night into saturday, we could see some significant snow in the mountains

of scotland, icy conditions around as well. but you can see just how limited that cold air is placed — the blue colours on the chart elsewhere, another very mild night to take us into the weekend. but for the weekend, high pressure is established way towards the southwest, toppling around it, the cloud, more weatherfronts, but also much, much milder air. if anything, temperatures will creep up even further this weekend. the exception being on the northern side of that weatherfront, significant snow, as i said, in parts of scotland, even to lower levels for a time, never reaching the mild air towards shetland through the day and rain will continue to fall across western scotland throughout. so, there could be some flooding issues here. six degrees in aberdeen, three in lerwick, most though around 12 or 13 degrees. as we go into sunday, well, we've got a weather front which willjust straddle the country bringing more cloud, outbreaks of rain. so christmas eve, there will be some scattered rain, a little bit of brightness, but it could potentially be one of the warmest christmas eves on record. temperatures up to around 15 degrees. that warmth continues into christmas day, a grey one rather than a white one.

but if you wanted to get out for a good walk on boxing day, it's looking good.

live from london, this is bbc news. dire straits. more shipping firms say they'll avoid the red sea over the threat of attacks, as container prices soar, raising new inflation fears.

also coming up: the santa rally is back on. but why is the festive season almost always a gift for financial markets? plus, tickets at the ready, it's el gordo. spain grinds to a halt for its christmas mega lottery with almost 2.6 billion euros up for grabs. welcome to our look at the business news. we start with the global shipping industry because more operators are now avoiding the red sea following attacks on vessels by yemen's houthi rebels. that's despite the formation of a us—led navalforce, operation prosperity, to protect international shipping. the pentagon says more than 20 nations have joined the coalition. hapag—lloyd of germany, and oocl of hong kong,

are the latest shipping companies to abandon the red sea area.