hello. i'm kasia madera. ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky says russia's war on his country will end sooner than it otherwise would have done, with donald trump's return to the white house. mr zelensky didn't say whether the president—elect had made any demands about talks with russia. ukraine also accused germany of attempting to appease russia, after the german chancellor, olaf scholz, spoke by phone to vladmir putin for the first time in two years. mr scholz said he urged president putin to begin talks with ukraine to achieve a just peace. zelensky said the call undermined efforts to isolate russia. let's get more on zelensky�*s comments regarding a trump administration on the war in ukraine. translation: we are a greatl nation and we have to prove it.

therefore, i believe that the war will end. there is no exact date, but for sure i emphasise once again what the policy of this team that will now lead the white house. the war will end faster. this is their approach. this is their promise to their society. and it is also very important for them, not only for the sake of ukraine. the bbc�*s russia editor steve rosenberg has been following developments and explained how the details of the call are being reported in moscow. there's a very positive reaction here in moscow. the story was running pretty high up in the running order in last, last night's evening news on russian television. reporting here in russia has stressed that it was germany that called russia, not the other way round. and it's also stressed that the kremlin�*s position hasn't changed an inch. it mentions that vladimir putin referred chancellor scholz to putin's so—called peace proposal ofjune, which actually read more

like an ultimatum to kyiv, because under that plan, ukraine would have to withdraw from all four ukrainian territories to which russia lays claim, plus recognise crimea as russian, plus ditch plans to join nato, plus western sanctions would be scrapped. but basically, i think this call cements the kremlin�*s claim that attempts to isolate russia have failed. it makes the kremlin more confident. and so you can understand the reaction in ukraine, this sort of hang on, what on earth are you doing picking up the phone, calling putin reaction? a lot of concern that that will just embolden vladimir putin. in the last few hours, president zelensky has described the battlefield situation as "difficult". a short time ago, i spoke to oleksiy goncharenko. he's a ukrainian mp and member of the ukrainian delegation to the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe. i asked him about the phone call beween olaf scholz

and president putin and a proposed russian peace plan regarded as unacceptable to ukraine. this plan is not a peace plan. it's plan of cutting ukraine in pieces and destroying ukraine. so definitely it's unacceptable. speaking about this call... yeah. we are not happy to see the call of any conversation of olaf scholz with vladimir putin. but from other point of view, it would be naive to think that such contacts would not happen. and german government said that it was prepared in coordination with other g7 countries. so for me, the main point is what was said during this conversation. what putin said about his so—called peace plan. it's clear. what is important for me is if, and i don't know the answer for the moment, chancellor scholz, did he message putin that if putin hopes that after american elections, the western support of ukraine can disappear,

that it is a false hope that it will never happen? that's the most important because putin feels himself emboldened because he hopes that american elections and the fatigue in the western countries can lead them to to abandon ukraine, to give up on ukraine, and to to give putin to realise his goals. that's what i'm interested in and, i don't know, answer no. and i guess that's that's something for —— that's what i'm interested in and, i don't know the answer. no. and i guess that's that's something for olaf scholz, isn't it? butjust in terms of if you're saying that the election of trump arguably potentially will put ukraine in a difficult position yet on the same side at the same time, you've got volodymyr zelensky that the incoming trump administration will quicken the end of the war. so what do we make of that? what's is your understanding of what your president is saying? i said that vladimir putin hopes that the election of donald trump will help him. i am absolutely not sure that this will happen.

we have a lot of... i should be frank with you. we have a lot of fears in ukraine about election of donald trump as new president of the united states, but also we have a lot of hopes because the trump, for example, is going to drop the oil prices, which is super important. trump can be probably more decisive in some steps if he will decide to make them. so it's a question, we don't know what will be trump's strategy towards ukraine. i can't comment on what president zelensky meant, speaking that with donald trump, the war can finish quicker. probably he was referring to what donald trump said, that he will end the war in 2a hours. and this donald trump, pledge is something which many ukrainians are looking at because, believe me, there is nobody in the world who wants peace more than ukrainians. the question is, will it be really peace or it will be ceasefire? what will be guarantees of security?

how donald trump really sees it and we don't know the answers on these questions, at least for the moment. at least ten infants have died when a fire broke out in the children's ward of a government hospital in northern india. sixteen other babies are being treated for their injuries, some are in a critical condition. local officials say the blaze in the intensive care unit of the hospital in the town othansi was possibly caused by an electrical fault in an oxygen concentrator. doctors and medical staff were seen breaking the windows of the smoke—filled ward to rescue the children, before fire crews arrived. sumedha pal is our correspondent in delhi. she has more detail on exactly what happened at the hospital. so the incident reportedly took place late last evening

between 10.30—iipm in the indian standard time. we know for a fact that the fire broke out around this time, and the authorities while are trying to ascertain the actual cause which led to the fire. it is being stated that since the neonatal facility is a highly oxygenated unit that could have contributed to the spread of the fire. as far as the facility is concerned, about 50 infants were receiving treatment at the facility and as the fire spread, the windows were broken to rescue the children, and about 44 infants were rescued from the facility. as far as the immediate updates are concerned, many of them are injured and are still receiving treatment at the facility, while some parents are still looking to find their missing children. uh, the electricalfault, as you mentioned, is being stated as one of the factors. however, an investigation will ascertain the actual factors which had contributed

to the fire. oh, absolutely tragic. unimaginable what those parents are experiencing right now. do we know these kind of fires? does this happen often in these kind of facilities? yeah. this is, in fact, the second most prominent instance of a hospital fire, which has been reported from india in may earlier this year in new delhi, which is the national capital. a similar such incident took place where six babies were killed, and it was as well an incident where fire had spread out through a neonatal intensive care facility. and just in terms of what this raises about concerns when it comes to safety protocols in these government hospitals, there must be so much reaction about and concern raised. absolutely. so several opposition leaders, including the families, are raising very pertinent questions about whether or not the electrical maintenance at these facilities was carried out on time, whether or not fire extinguishers were present. and what about the fire alarms? so these are some very

critical questions which are being raised about the the maintenance of these facilities, as well as the infrastructure which exists in both private facilities as well as the government facilities. donald trump has made further announcements on his team that will shape his agenda as he returns to the white house. he's named his election campaign spokeswoman, karoline leavitt as his white house press secretary. the 27—year—old served as assistant press secretary during mr trump's first term as president. north dakota governor doug burgum will lead the interior department, an agency whose portfolio includes both on—shore and off—shore drilling. but one of the most controversial choices this week is matt gaetz, selected to be attorney general. he quit the house of representatives on the day he was nominated — and just days before

a house investigation into his behaviour released its report. our correspondentjessica parker has more from florida. all this week, we've had a wave of names in terms of donald trump's selection for his top team, and some of them have been pretty predictable, but others have sparked surprise and actually in some quarters, even alarm. but here in west palm beach, where donald trump has his mar a lago resort, the business of transition, of choosing people for key roles, it appears, goes on. and i've been speaking to conservative activists who are here for what's known as an investor's summit. that's at mar a lago. they talk about being in a very upbeat mood, a lot of them very prepared to defend donald trump's selection of candidates. so far, some people here are even looking for a newjob in the upcoming trump administration.

but they are, of course, donald trump loyalists. the faithful, if you like the president elect himself, spoke at a dinner this week at mar a lago. he seemed a very confident, really enjoying the moment, enjoying his win. that all being said, the controversy around some of his selections it has been making up taking up headlines. it has been extensively chewed over in the media and there are pressure points. there are questions over whether certain candidates will be able to get full senate confirmation. and remember, that is a process that is set to run right in to early next year. azerbaijan's cop29 climate summit faces mounting criticism over a series of events that have frustrated proceedings. argentina's abrupt snub

of the climate talks has raised alarm that presidentjavier milei , an ally of us president—elect donald trump, could be looking at pulling out of the paris accord. the azerbaijan government has also been accused of a crack down on environmental activists and other political opponents, which it denies. and in an open letter, some leading climate experts say the summit is "no longer fit for purpose" and in need an urgent overhaul. signatories to the letter include former un secretary—general ban ki—moon and a former un climate chief. the bbc�*s azeri service editor, konul khalilova is at the cop 29 summit in baku, and told us more about argentina's depature from the cop. argentina's departure this week was unpredicted. argentine officials say they are pulling back to review the situation, but it puts argentina's future in cop process into picture. it has raised questions about whether this decision is related to the expected meeting between the president of argentina and the president elect, trump. uh, there, officials say they are withdrawing

from cop 29 only from this year's event. but there are worries that if the us under donald trump leaves the paris agreement next year, then the countries like argentina will follow them. during his first presidency, donald trump pulled the us out of the paris agreement. thenjoe biden brought his country back. but now it's expected to be out again after trump takes over next year. and also another thing overshadowing the cop 29 are the protests. human rights activists have criticised the cop 29 azerbaijan for jailing journalists and human rights activists and environmental activists. this is the third year in a row that the cop hosting country has been accused of oppression. the critics say that there are more than 300 people in jail allegedly imprisoned under political motives.

but azerbaijani government strongly rejects these accusations and say there there are no political prisoners in the country. this week, azerbaijani president's aide hikmet hajiyev was put this question to and he told the journalist asking the question that you operate in this country, you are able to ask me this question independently and that shows that we have free environment for the for everyone here. now it's time for a look at today's sport. we start with a big night of boxing, and ireland's katie taylor, successfully retained her undisputed, light—welterweight title, with a contentious points wind, over amanda serrano in texas. the pair served up another classic, in their rematch, but taylor repeatedly leaned in, with her head, opening up a cut on serrano�*s forehead in the fourth round, and she was eventually deducted a point for headbutting in the eighth, but it wasn't enough for the puerta rican, all threejudges, scoring

the fight 95—94 for taylor. it just itjust happens sometimes when you're fighting against a southpaw especially, the fighters coming close and it just happens. it was completely accidental and now they are calling me a dirty fighter or whatever but that was not purposely done, i'm in there fighting and it is a rough sport. the other event there had caused much debate and controversy, and youtuberjake paul, beat 58—year—old mike tyson, on a unanimous points decision. tyson, the two—time former heavyweight champion, looked miles off the pace in a drab contest, and some fans weren't happy with what they'd seen, booing at the end. i tried to give the fight the best site i possibly could but

when someone is just surviving in the ring basically and it is hard to make it exciting so i could not really get him to engage me or slip shots and do something super cool or whatever but i don't care about whatever but i don't care about what people have to say, they will always have something to say and it is what it is. onto rugby union's autumn internationals and when you're on a four match losing run , the last side you want to come up against is the double world champions, south africa.. champions, south africa. that's the daunting prospect, facing england, at the allianz stadium in twickenham, at tea—time. the south africans swept the scots aside, last time out, whereas england lost to australia. but the hosts will have the giant presence of six foot five freddy steward back in their side. i'm really excited. you know, i've been working really hard the last couple of months to try and push my game on, on the back of not being selected. so, you know, i'm very grateful for this opportunity. what better game to come back for than south africa at home? they're a brilliant outfit. they're very well rounded.

you know, they've got some power up front and they've got some, you know, excitement in their back line, some brains, some experience. so it'll be a tough challenge for us. but you know, the environment we've created, the boys want to tackle, you know, stuff like this head on. we're ready for it. it's got to be personal. i mean, it's another man trying to run through you in a game. it doesn't get more personal than that. so every game for us is is personal. and and this one isjust because it's away. and this one isjust because it's away. it's in twickenham. it's a big game. and we know you know what they've been going through. we know how much they will because we've been in this position before. you know it will be for us not to be prepared for a game like this then would not be learning from our own journey. australia are looking to clinch a t—20, series victory, against pakistan in sydney.

the hosts won the toss and chose to bat, but pakistan did well to restrict australia to just 147 for nine from their 20 overs — haris rauf taking four wickets — the chase is under way — pakistan currently 91 for four. australia lead the three—match series i—nil after winning the opening game in brisbane. in the nba, lebronjames recorded a triple—double for the fourth game in a row, the first time he's done that in his illustrious career — leading the los angeles lakers to a 120—115 wind over the san antonio spurs in the nba cup while the minnesota timberwolves had to survive a record—breaking night from de'aaron fox — the sacramento kings guard scored 60 points, the most in a single game ever by a kings player, but the kings eventually fell to a 130—126 defeat in overtime. anthony edwards finishing off the game with that effort. and that's all the sport for now. as always, thank you so much. there is growing anger

from the uk's farming sector, following the government's planed changes to agricultural inheritance tax. farmers in wales have staged a protest outside the welsh labour conference in opposition to the changes which would see farms worth more than £1 million face a tax rate of 20 per cent. the prime minister has said it won't impact the vast majority — but the national farmers' union have called it devastating, saying it will force farmers to sell off land. well, prime minister sir keir starmer has been addressing that conference in wales in the last hour and had this to say, i will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality at the top decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy and i will defend them protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy and investing in the future of britain and the future of wales, finally turning the page on austerity once and for all. correspondent, damian grammatiacas was watching.

there are farm tractors arriving, people with placards outside. just to wind back for people, this is all about inheritance tax as palmer's not having to pay it on their land if they pass the tone. —— mike farmer having to pay it. the government change their mind and said they did have to pay it in the argument then is around where that falls, so as you say the farmers and unions say this will impact many farms, make it very difficult for them and they might have to sell land. the government says the level at which the tax kicks in means a farm over 2.5— £3 kicks in means a farm over 2.5— 5 million could be passed on £3 million could be passed on if you use the exemptions available and therefore only i think in the last year or the last year we have figures for, something over and run 20 —ish farms in a year might be affected and those are the biggest, richest ones and then what they say is the tax rate

you would pay is half what anyone else pays in passing on property and you can pay in the fare is over years so sir keir starmer saying this yesterday when he arrived in wales that not many people will be affected but what is interesting is many farmers are concerned and i will pick it out for you, he said he will defend the decision is a new budget all day along with tough decisions necessary to stabilise the economy and one interesting thing is a little note in our advance notes, briefing, he was going to say and it is about asking those with broader to contribute more, i notice that was deleted from his speech and that might be because those are the broader shoulders that are seen as a bit... going down a bit bad we were farmers outside to say we do not have broad shoulders, we have a toughjob and it is tough for us to make and it is tough for us to make a profit in this business so a sign, a little sign, of an attempt to be a bit sensitive to those concerns.

up to four thousand miners operating illegally in south africa are involved in an extraordinary stand—off with police. they're holed up in a disused mine and are refusing to return to the surface for fear of arrest. so food and water supplies have been cut off to try to force them out. —— we do have much more on that on our website as well. relatives of the black civil rights leader, malcolm x, are suing us law enforcement agencies of complicity in his assassination six decades ago. they claim the cia, the fbi and the new york police department were aware of a plot to assassinate him, but did nothing to stop it. the family is seeking 100 million dollars in damages. three men were convicted over his death but two were exonerated more than 50 years later when the case was re—examined. raymond hamlin is a lawyer acting for the family. so you ask yourself this last question, �*why would the government prosecute two individuals knowing those individuals had no involvement in the assassination? what was it that our government, what was it that the city was trying to protect?�* our correspondent rowan bridge, is following

developments from washington — and says the case hinges on a letter written by an undercover police officer before his death in 2020. malcolm x was a charismatic but controversial figure within the civil rights movement of the 1960s. in the united states, he was the chief spokesman for the nation of islam to start off with a sort of black nationalist movement, and he became famous for saying that a black people should use whatever means necessary to claim back their civil rights, including violence. but he split from the nation of islam. he went on a pilgrimage to mecca and came back with a very different sort of viewpoint. he moderated his earlier views, and that had created a lot of tension with the nation of islam. and he received death threats to his life, and he feared for his own safety when he returned to the united states. and then he was giving a speech

at a ballroom in new york when he was assassinated. he was shot dead in front of several hundred people. and the allegation now is that there was complicity by the authorities in malcolm x's death. this all comes off the back of a letter which was allegedly written by a new york police officer before he died in 2020, where he said he had infiltrated malcolm x's organisation and got his security team to commit offences so that they could be arrested by the new york police before malcolm x gave that speech. and then the allegation is also that there were undercover officers in the ballroom who did nothing to protect malcolm x and allowed that shooting to go ahead. and there has always been controversy over whether the authorities were complicit in his death or not. and i think this court case, really one of the things they're hoping to do is prise out that

information to get a full account accounting of what happened, and also to get reparations for the family of malcolm x. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again, started off rather rainy and cloudy but more cold air pushing and so while the mountains across scotland looking pretty bare at the moment, we may start to see some whiteness, some snow falling over the coming days and you can see in the pressure chart we have a cold front moving southwards which will bring the rain and drizzle and it will continue to move southward taking you mild air with that and for all of us as we get to sunday under the influence of this calder arctic

air and that will bring in some showers across scotland with some gales in the far north, showers turning increasingly wintry of a higher ground and you'll see some sunny spells in northern ireland and eventually northern england and for england and wales in general thing fairly cloudy was still some rain and drizzle moving its way southwards for the afternoon temperatures here are 11-12 c afternoon temperatures here are 11—12 c put afternoon temperatures here are 11—12 c put a noticeably called the day across scotland. through tonight, the rain and drizzle will continue to clear with some clear skies developing across further parts of the country. clear skies in north west england scotland, a touch of frost with some wintry showers over higher ground and temperatures in the south about 5-6 c but temperatures in the south about 5—6 c but there will be some dry and sunny weather from any with england and wales, northern ireland seeing rain moving and to the afternoon and further showers over higher grounds of scotland and then an even colder day with

temperatures down to four celsius in aberdeen and feeling noticeably colder elsewhere across the uk. into next week which is when things get a bit more complicated with milder air spreading more complicated with milder airspreading in more complicated with milder air spreading in from the south—west but as it hits, this is the boundary where we could see some snow on the northern edge. we look to the northern edge. we look to the northern edge of that across northern england, northern ireland, risk of some snow here and there showers develop with the risk of some ice as well but we have to keep a close eye on this part of a monday evening, snow over higher ground, some to lower levels as well the details is still a bit uncertain so stay tuned to the

forecast.

this is bbc news, the headlines... president zelensky says russia's war on ukraine will end sooner than it otherwise would have done, with donald trump's return to the white house injanuary. it comes as ukraine accuses germany of attempting to appease russia. ten infants die in a hospital fire in northern india — 16 other babies are receiving treatment. local officials say the blaze in the intensive care unit may have been caused by an electrical fault. here in the uk... farmers in wales stage a protest outside the welsh labour conference in opposition to government plans to change an inheritenee tax.

the changes affect farms worth more than £1 million. and the former world heavyweight boxing champion, mike tyson, has lost his fight against the youtuber, jake paul. meanwhile, ireland's katie taylor successfully defended her light—welterweight title against puerto rico's amanda serrano. now on bbc news, unspun world withjohn simpson. hello, and thanks forjoining us here at the bbc�*s headquarters in central london for unspun world. in this edition, donald trump mark ii — is there any way of working out what it'll be like?

we know that he just he doesn't like alliances.