hello i'm anjana gadgil. president biden says russia's biggest aerial attack on ukraine since the start of the war means vladimir putin remains determined to obliterate the country. at least 30 people have been killed and more than 160 injured in a wave of deadly explosions. cities hit include kyiv, lviv in the west, odesa in the south, and dnipro, kharkiv and zaporizhzhia in eastern ukraine. a maternity hospital and shopping mall were among buildings damaged and destroyed. poland has said an object entered the nato country's airspace overnight. a polish general says the object,

which is likely to have been a russian missile, spent less than three minutes over polish territory. from kyiv, our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse reports. it is and always has been the whole of ukraine which is under attack. kyiv is still moscow's biggest prize. air defences have improved here, but this attack proved too much. translation: i was woken up at 7:30 by a horrible sound. _ it was so frightening, the missile was flying and everything was buzzing, so noisy. you are left in no doubt that this was a direct missile strike, the scale of the damage, the size of the blast zone, the heat caused. you are more used to seeing damage caused by falling debris when a missile is intercepted, but this reflects the scale of this russian attack. and scenes like this are being replicated right across ukraine.

a lucky escape in kharkiv in the north—east. this city is familiar with missile strikes, but not 20 in a single morning. a shopping centre in dnipro in the east, as well as a maternity hospital, were hit. it did not stop there. this is the port city of odesa in the south, where a residential block was struck. zaporizhzhia wasn't spared either, where at least eight were killed. even lviv in the west, which sometimes feels farfrom this invasion, wasn't immune this time. all military targets were hit, as far as russia's defence ministry was concerned. ukraine's air force says it had never seen so many missiles in one attack. in a war where moscow routinely strikes cities it can't occupy, that is saying something. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. we mentioned that statement from president biden on ukraine. he said, "after nearly two years of this devastating war,

putin s objective remains unchanged. he seeks to obliterate ukraine and subjugate its people. and mr biden warned... brendan kearney is a retired colonel with the us marine corps — he gave me his assessment of president biden�*s comments. i think the president is justifiably frustrated with congress. they went on their christmas break without passing that legislation that zelensky had made a trip to washington, dc to try to obtain. so he's frustrated. he wants to send a message of support, and that it's unwavering support for ukraine, and i think he's hopeful that when congress gets back from its recess that this will be

the number—one priority on their agenda. and how likely is it that congress will listen and then take action after these words and these actions by russia? well, you know, that's hard to predict. there's more support in congress for ukraine than is being discussed right now. what the republicans and some democrats quietly are doing is they're trying to force the president's hand by linking the funding legislation to what's going on in the southern border, which is an absolute disaster for the united states, with this completely unhindered flow of immigrants across the border. so it's politics at its worst, but i think what's going to happen is you're going to see the congress eventually go ahead pass the legislation and give ukraine most, if not all of what it wants. is this a personal mission

by president biden or is it purely political? i think with politicians, i'm not sure you can go ahead and separate those things. i think, number one, it's purely political. he's going into an election year. his polls out here in the united states are awful. his performance is generally, by democrats and republicans, acknowledged as awful. ukraine is one of the very few things he has been consistent on, so we're going to have to wait and see how this all develops. but the republicans sense of blood in the water over the southern border issue, so they're going to continue to punch biden in the nose, so to speak, over these efforts that he is purportedly going ahead and promoting. so a huge wave of attacks overnight on several cities across ukraine. how, in your view, do you think the war is going for president putin and also for ukrainians?

i think this clearly was a response by putin to show that he is still a powerful man, he's still a player. the russians were embarrassed by that successful ukrainian assault there on that landing ship just a couple days ago, so you can almost always predict when the russians strike back hard, it's because they've been hit hard. and the ukrainians, as usual, did a superbjob. you know, with no fleet themselves, they've managed to sink over 20% of the russian black sea fleet. so this is not, you know... this a continuation of the russian way of war, which is putin as a bully attacking primarily civilian targets, residential areas. i've heard that city hospitals and schools were also attacked. so it's a shame, it's a tragedy, but there's nothing, not a single thing that's a surprise, other than maybe the magnitude of the attack.

but, no, these missiles are hard to replace, so russia really stepped up its game for this particular set of attacks. the united nations says an estimated 150 thousand palestinians are being forced to flee areas of central gaza, as israeli forces advance on refugee camps there. an israeli air strike is reported to have killed 20 displaced people in rafah — a town that many people have fled to in recent days. talks to stop the fighting are reported to have restarted in egypt — though there's no indication of progress. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell has sent this report — which does contain distressing images. gathering in disbelief at the scene of another israeli strike. this is rafah, crowded with displaced gazans. last night, the scenes here were frantic, with 20 people

killed including children. 0thers somehow making it out alive. amid all this suffering, ordinary palestinians ask when the war will stop. "the situation has gone beyond all limits," says samad. "we're asking the world to protect us and stop the aggression. we're helpless." 0ngoing fighting means little aid has been reaching gaza city. new pictures show the desperate looting when this convoy finally arrived. the vast majority of gazans have now been forced from their homes. people here have been setting up new makeshift camps as they've fled from advancing israeli troops. but new diplomatic efforts are taking shape even as the war rages on. a hamas delegation is now in cairo after egypt, a key mediator with israel, proposed a new ceasefire deal.

crowd chants. in israel there is pressure to find a way to bring home the 100—plus hostages still in gaza. those released during a truce last month say they endured harsh conditions while held captive by hamas fighters. mia schem now accuses all gazans of being complicit with the armed group, something many would deny. translation: it's families under hamas control. - you know in retrospect i realised i was staying with a family. i was asking myself, why am i at a family's house? why are there children and a woman here? israel says its aim in gaza remains to dismantle hamas's military and governing capabilities. but for now, palestinian civilians are paying a huge price — forced to flee from their homes with no safe place to go. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. i spoke to gemma connell in rafah, in the southern gaza strip. she is the team leaderfor the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. she told me about the

latest situation there. the humanitarian situation in rafah is a human catastrophe. what we see right now is the continued arrivals of people who have already fled three, four or five times. we estimate nearly 10,000 people a day have been arriving just in these last days, just into united nations shelters, and many more are arriving into places outside of that, setting up makeshift shelters on the beach, any spot of land that is still vacant. even now, literally on the roads, they were previously on roundabouts and median strips and foot paths, but as those have been congested with all of the shelters and everyone who has sought refuge here, we know how people literally setting up shelters on the roads. so the situation in rafah is nothing other than catastrophic, with well overi million people here in desperate, desperate need and also, most critically, in fear for their lives. we know that the idf have asked

people in central gaza to go south. where is it safe for them to go, is there anywhere for them to go? i do not believe that anyone on this planet could say at this moment in time that there is any safe place in gaza. just earlier, you reported on the air strike here in rafah just last night. there continue to be air strikes in places that are supposed to be safe. just the other day, i myself was at the hospital in khan younis, and the day after i visited it, there was an air strike right out the front that killed many, many people. all of these air strikes, all of these attacks in areas that are not under evacuation orders, that are supposed to be safe, indicate to anyone that there is currently no safe place in gaza. so there are air strikes and, of course, there are also ground operations and fighting between israeli forces and palestinian armed groups. what is the situation

like for humanitarian groups such as your own and aid agencies in terms of helping people there? 0ur endeavour is so hugely complex and complicated, it is difficult to describe to anyone outside of gaza. the ground operations that have now commenced in the middle area make it even more so. just yesterday, our colleagues who were returning from a delivery to the north were shot at by israeli forces on their way back to the south. that indicates the level of intensity of this conflict. but even more important than what we are facing is what people here are facing, and just this afternoon i was in a hospital and while there, we had people being brought in, two boys 14 and 16 years old who had just been hit out on the street whilst trying to get food for theirfamilies. as i have said every day since i have a rise in gaza

on the 4th of december, this is why this war must end, because the civilian toll is unconscionable. 0n the incident on the un convoy being targeted, we have not had a response from israel itself, have you heard from israel, has been addressed by the un to israel? it certainly has been addressed by the un to israel because it is critical that we are able to move everywhere in gaza to deliver assistance, as you rightly highlighted, there are still tens of thousands, indeed, hundreds of thousands people north of gazain need of assistance, so we must continue to strive to reach those people and further, we must be able to move safely. so we have indeed addressed, we understand that they are looking into it, but it is an imperative that we are giving the assurances that we will be able to move through these areas and deliver assistance to people who — at this point — are not only desperate, but are starving and in dire need of assistance in order to survive.

you're watching bbc news, i'm anjana gadgil. the number of anti—semitic hate crimes recorded by some of the uk's largest police forces rose sharply in the weeks following the hamas attack on israel. data released by 31 forces show incidents peaked in larger urban areas, including in west yorkshire, the west midlands, greater manchester and merseyside. however hate crime overall appears to have fallen significantly over the last decade. our home editor mark easton has this report. stop taking out innocent civilians! killing children every single day! in the weeks after the start of the israel hamas conflict, tensions spilled over into a spike in anti—semitic and islamophobic hate incidents in the uk. this is anti—semitism. data obtained from freedom of information requests show that in england's more diverse urban areas, police saw a rise in anti—jewish incidents in the month following the hamas attacks on october the 7th.

greater manchester police recorded 7a anti—semitic offences, up from 15 in the same period a year earlier. west midlands police recorded 22, up from just one. west yorkshire police recorded a9, up from 29. and the british transport police recorded 87 incidents, up from eight in the same month a year before. we have seenjewish people who are worried about sending their children to school, about going to synagogue, about wearing anything that might allow other people to identify them asjewish. the pro—palestinian marches in london saw arrests for suspected anti—semitic offences, with the met reporting last month that 19 people had later been charged with anti—jewish hate crimes. in some places, there has also been an increase in anti—muslim hate incidents. hello, you do takeaways? yes. ok, so i come over and take away your life. bleep, bleep. israel for ever. this palestinian restaurant in london received abusive messages in the days after the hamas attack. the situation in the middle east has

increased fear in bothjewish and muslim neighbourhoods in britain, every alleged hate crime adding to those anxieties. however, it appears community relations have since started to improve and overall, hate crime appears to have fallen significantly in the last two decades. mark easton, bbc news. we asked london's metropolitan police to respond to suggestions they weren't doing enough to protect thejewish community. they have responded... around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other

stories making news. a british woman and her 22—year—old son have been killed in an avalanche while skiing in france. the mother — who was 5a — and her son, who have not been named, had been skiing off—piste near the swiss border when they were buried by an avalanche. the chief inspector of prisons for england and wales has called for a fundamental re—orientation in the way the system is run. charlie taylor said the high availability of drugs in some prisons was a barrier to rehabilitation. and he said many inmates were failing to learn to read — and not developing the skills they need for a life of work, rather than crime. the home of the manchester city footballerjack grealish has been broken into while he was playing in his side's 3—1 win against everton. according to local media, a million pounds worth ofjewellery and watches were stolen. no arrests have yet been made.

you're live with bbc news. time for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc today is the only day between christmas and new year where there is no english premier league football — so time to take stock of the top of the table, after arsenal failed to take their chance to go back above liverpool on thursday. it's all making for a compelling title race, with six points separating those top five teams, and competition further down as well. when we lose a game, we are out of the title race, when we win a game, we are there, it's the same for our contenders, so it's possible we can address the fact that this year, anything can happen. this season it is a common thing for all the teams, they are struggling to get the results. that means how tough it is to keep

going, game by game. meanwhile in scotland, on saturday there's a huge match as rivals celtic and rangers meet once again. it'll be the first time rangers manager phillipe clement will have experienced the old firm derby, having replaced michael beale earlier in the season — but there'll be no rangers fans in attendance to cheer his side on — due to a ticketing dispute over fan safety. it isa it is a pitiful football. i think it is always better to have two sides. it creates a certain atmosphere. it's a pitiful football, it creates a certain atmosphere. it's a pitifulfootball, but it creates a certain atmosphere. it's a pitiful football, but it's decisions made above my head also, knowing much more things that i know. so, again, itry to knowing much more things that i know. so, again, i try to control the controllable, the things that i can do, the things we need to do as a team. carlo ancelotti has extended his

contract with real madrid, appearing to end speculation linking him with the brazil national team job. the italian now has a deal at the bernabeu until the end of the 2025/26 season, extending his second spell at the spanish club with whom he's won two champions leagues and the la liga title. ancelotti's deal was due to end next year. in march the brazilian fa president said he was sure the former milan and chelsea boss would join them. australia's cricketers have sealed a series win over pakistan. they've beaten the tourists by 79 runs in melbourne with captain pat cummins finishing with 10 wickets in the match. he helped bowl pakistan out for 237 in their second innings, as they chased 317 for victory. pakistan had looked well set to get close to that target at 219—5 at one stage, but they then lost wickets quickly. so australia take an unassailable 2—nil lead in the three match series, with the third test starting in sydney on tuesday. great britain have had a great start

to the united cup with victory over the hosts in australia. katie boulter secured the vital victory in the three rubber tie with a straight sets win over ajla tomljanovic. the british number one winning 6—2, 6—4. earlier her team—mate cameron norrie beat her boyfriend alex de minaur. gb then lost the mixed doubles but won the tie 2—1 overall. and that's all the sport for now. he can stay up—to—date with all of the bbc news sports act. great to see the tennis season well under way again. here in the uk, tributes have been paid to a man who died after a car hit a group of people in sheffield. police say christian marriott had stopped to help an unconscious woman after an argument between two groups of people. his family have paid tribute. saying the circumstances of his death "show the sort of man he was — going to help rather than to turn away." 0livia richwald reports. chris marriott spent his life helping others — at a food bank, for a debt advice

charity, and volunteering to make life better for those less fortunate than himself. the father of two young boys had a strong christian faith. when he saw an unconscious woman while out on a walk with his family, he rushed to help her and give first aid. but while he was trying to save her life, he lost his own. his boss said the it manager would always help others. chris's sort of whole raison d'etre was to help others. i mean, he would sort of see anybody and be prepared to go and help, and i think hejust had a heart for people. this is where chris marriott was hit and killed. a wedding party had been taking place in a house in this cul—de—sac. it descended into violence and disorder, and that spilled out into the street. chris marriott was just an innocent passer—by. just be a good samaritan, like any decent person, and he lost his life and, you know, it'sjust a big, big loss to the family and to the community as a whole. in a statement, chris marriott's family said, "chris

was a wonderful husband, dad, brother, uncle one man, aged 23, remains in police custody. a 55—year—old man has been released on bail. a real good samaritan, chris marriott died trying to save a woman's life. she is in hospital in a life—threatening condition. 0livia richwald, bbc news, sheffield. the heiress of the beauty brand l'0real has become the first woman in the world to hold a 100 billion dollarfortune — according to the bloomberg billionaire's index. emily brown reports. the first woman in the world to hold

a $100 billion fortune — francoise bettencourt meyers. she's also ranked the 12th richest person globally, according to the bloomberg billionaires index. her grandfather founded the french beauty empire l'0real, and she's the vice chairperson on the company's board. l'0real�*s shares rose to a record high in paris on thursday, and the firm has seen its sales rebound after the pandemic, when people under lockdown were using less make—up. now, the 70—year—old heiress has been named on this list. this is the bloomberg billionaires index. it's a daily ranking of the world's richest people. and the top of the list is dominated by men in the tech industry from the us. and sitting at the very top is elon musk, spacex and tesla chief executive, who's now worth $232 billion. but what about the other women on the list? well, seven places behind francoise is alice walton. she's the heiress to the walmart fortune. she's now worth $70 billion. closely behind alice walton isjulia flesher koch. she's worth $66.6 billion. she's the widow of david koch,

former chief executive of koch industries. and in 26th place on the bloomberg billionaires index is jacqueline badger mars. her grandfather founded the mars confectionary company. now, it's worth noting that of the 500 people named on this list, more than 180 of them are from the us, china provided 52 and britain 17. the rest of us can only dream. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. love it or hate it, new year's eve is just around the corner, and once again, it looks likely that the weather is going to play a leading role when pulling down the final curtain of this year. because, this weekend, we are likely to see further heavy rain. snow is likely even at lower levels in the north for a time,

and once again, the winds a feature. it's this area of low pressure that's drifting towards our shores, and it will gradually move its way steadily east. ahead of it, brief ridge of high pressure that's going to allow for those temperatures in scotland to fall well below freezing. a cold, icy, but hopefully sunny start to your new year's eve. that's where the best of the drier weather will be. cloud and rain gathers out to the west, some of it really heavy across north—west england, wales, south—west england, accompanied by gales, particularly on exposed coasts. but central and south—eastern england will stay dry and bright and still relatively warm, with 11—12 degrees. a colder story in scotland. and where that frontal system then bumps into that cold air, that's when we're likely to see the risk of significant snow for a time, and it may well cause some disruption even at lower levels. now, it will gradually turn back to rain as we start to see some milderair pushing in, but as i say, there could be some issues. keep abreast of the weather forecast and tune into your bbc local radio station. on sunday, the low pressure still centred up into the north—west.

slightly milder start for most of us, 2—9 degrees first thing on sunday morning, but that low sitting to the north—west will continue to push in a frequent rash of showers for our new year's eve. so the showers out to the west, and some of these will gradually feed their way steadily eastwards as we go through the afternoon. sheltered eastern areas staying relatively dry and bright. most of the frequent showers out to the west. windy along channel coasts, temperatures between 8—10 degrees. some of these showers will push east as we go through the evening. frequent rash of showers into northern ireland and western scotland, but north—east scotland faring a little better than of late. dry, we should keep some sunshine, and it should stay largely dry into the evening. now, as we move into new year's day, on the whole a quieter story. need keep an eye on this frontal system down to the south, but for many it will be slightly cooler and slightly quieter. but there's still going to be some rain around at times. take care.

child marriage is a global issue and has devastating consequences all over the world. at least 80 million girls under 18 will be married by 2030. stopping it isn't easy. we believe that when we educate just one girl, that one girl can be able to change her community. and changing cultural practices is even harder.