two people have been rushed to hospital after a fairground ride in birmingham city centre malfunctioned last night. and scientists discover how neanderthals played a key role in the survival of early humans a8,000 year ago. russia has launched a large—scale strike on ukraine's energy infrastructure, firing missiles and drones across multiple regions. the scale of the damage is not clearyet, but kyiv, lviv and odesa are being targeted. let's speak to our correspondent in kyiv, abdujalil abdurasulov. tell us more about the damage we think has been caused. it was another sleepless night for many ukrainians here. it started with massive drone attacks overnight which

overloaded air defence systems of ukraine. that attack was followed shortly after that by massive waves of missiles that targeted different parts of ukraine, the western regions, as well as southern regions, including kyiv as well. according to president zelensky, 93 missiles were launched by russian bombers and jets, and 81 of them were intercepted. some of those missiles were also air ballistic missiles which are harder to intercept, and they also change their course during the flight which made it harder to intercept for ukrainian defenders. according to the energy minister, the main target of this attack was ukraine's energy infra structure. and in fact one of the areas that these missiles reportedly targeted was the western part, a town in the western part of ukraine where a

strategic underground gas storage facility is located. that place is crucial for maintaining heating systems. the head of one region in the western part of ukraine claims some of the energy facilities were hit. we are still waiting for information about what exactly was hit and what the damage is. missiles managed... thank you to our correspondence in kyiv. the head of nato has warned the alliance isn't ready for the threats it will face from russia and called for a shift to a wartime mindset. mark rutte said future spending would need to be considerably higher than the current target of 2% of national wealth. our europe editor, katya adler, has been speaking to mr rutte in brussels. the timing of this speech has also got to do with donald trump being re—elected

to the white house. he is known as not being a fan of nato's and that is putting it politely. he views some european countries as freeloaders, and he knows that this continent still relies heavily on the us for its security. my plea here is, if you have children and grandchildren, if you think our way of life should be preserved, the democracy, our values, then we have to prioritise defence. the united states, donald trump, he says europe has to pay its way. are you worried if europe doesn't up its spending that he could turn his back on this transatlantic alliance? but we will spend more... are you worried he might turn his back then? no, i'm not, because it won't come to that. and i don't want to spend more because of donald trump. so he's right that we have to spend more, absolutely. he was right, he is still right. so it's notjust about conventional warfare or ukraine for mark rutte. it's about cyberattacks, it's about destabilisation

through disinformation, it's about attacks on critical infrastructure like energy grids or those underwater internet cables that are used for billions of pounds' worth of financial transactions a day. his basic message — cough up a bit more now or risk paying dearly later if we don't protect ourselves. our europe editor, katya adler. one of myanmar s most powerful ethnic insurgent groups has taken control of the country s border with bangladesh after capturing the last military base in northern rakhine state. the arakan army had been besieging the base, in the border town of maungdaw, for more than two months. hundreds of soldiers surrendered to the insurgents and hundreds more are believed to have been killed. our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, gave this update. well, this has probably been the most bloody and protracted battle of the entire myanmar civil war. the civil war has been going

on for more than three years. it was ignited by the military�*s disastrous decision to launch a coup against the then elected government headed by aung san suu kyi, and people rose up against it. and it's brought in many of the different ethnic insurgent groups who off and on have been fighting the central government for a very long time. but there were a lot of peace talks on at the time. they've joined this broad opposition movement and perhaps the most powerful of them is the arakan army. they are campaigning for an autonomous or sort of independent state in rakhine state, that's the westernmost state in myanmar. it was an old kingdom many centuries ago, so they've got memories of that. and they have basically got... the military have had them in full retreat, but the fighting there has been going on almost nonstop for a year. and the last military units in the north of the state retreated into this one barracks in the border town of maungdaw, it's on the border with bangladesh, and have held out there for the last two months in a protracted siege,

defended by bunkers and minefields, as these insurgents pounded them from outside with everything they had. and they have now, it's impossible to get access to rakhine state, even aid agencies can't get in there. so it's a very difficult place. but the arakan army has uploaded video of its taking of this base at the end and it really does give you a very strong sense ofjust how intense the fighting was before the soldiers decided to surrender. they surrendered, we believe, last weekend and gave up the base, which means the insurgents now control the entire border with bangladesh. jonathan head. two people have been taken to hospital after a fairground ride in birmingham city centre malfunctioned last night. west midlands fire service said the city flyer ride dropped to ground level whilst in operation. our reporter graham satchell has more. the immediate aftermath of what must have been a terrifying moment in the centre of birmingham, after a fairground ride failed and crashed to the ground.

the ride had dropped a bit. they said someone had they said someone had fallen out and then, like, it was quite clear, fallen out and then, like you can see that, like, the wires have been crossed and they've obviously knocked together or something. knocked together or something. the city flyer is a regular the city flyer is a regular attraction at this time attraction at this time of year in birmingham. of year in birmingham. these pictures from the summer show how it climbs to more than 50 metres and rotates at considerable speed. last night, emergency services last night, emergency services cordoned off the area. they said two women had been taken to hospital, although their injuries are not cordoned off the area. thought to be serious. another 11 were treated at the scene. and tax offences. an investigation has begun an investigation has begun to see how the wires of the ride became entangled to see how the wires and what caused it to fail. graham satchell, bbc news. graham satchell, bbc news. president biden has president biden has issued a raft of pardons issued a raft of pardons and sentence commutations — and sentence commutations — the biggest single day act of clemency in modern us history. the biggest single day act of 1500 people saw their 1500 people saw their sentences downgraded. nearly a0 non—violent criminals sentences downgraded. had theirs written off. the decision to grant mass the decision to grant mass clemency follows a backlash clemency follows a backlash over the pardon the outgoing over the pardon the outgoing

president gave to his son, hunter, for gun president gave to his

president biden issued an unconditional pardon to his son, hunter, who'd been found guilty of tax evasion and gun charges — a move that sparked condemnation from even several in his own party, as well, of course, as the republicans. now, the white house has said it is, in its words, continuing to review claims for clemency, the suggestion being that more pardons could be issued in the five or so weeks thatjoe biden has left in the white house. fc the man who will be taking overfrom him, president—elect donald trump, has said that he intends to pardon many of those who were involved in the insurrection at the us capitol building on the 6th of january 2021 within hours of taking office. mr trump has taken to calling them thej6 hostages and has said that he believes that many of them do not

deserve to be injail. david willis. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the government has revealed more details about how it plans to turn the uk s electricity grid green by 2030. called the clean power action plan — it includes measures that should make it easier to build on—shore windfarms and also connect new infrastructure to the power grid. the energy and net zero secretary ed miliband outlined his plans on bbc breakfast. i think the british people voted for big change at the general election, naga, and i think we need to deliver it, and that's what this plan is all about. and, you know, we are at the moment at the mercy of the roller—coaster

of fossil fuel markets. 0ur gas prices, wherever we get the gas from, are subject to the decisions of petro—states and dictators. and your viewers are seeing it in their energy bills, have been seeing it for years, particularly since russia's invasion of ukraine. it's time to actually have home—grown clean energy that we can control. that's what our plan is all about. it's the right thing for the country, for bills, for security, forjobs — i'm at a wind turbine factory here in hull employing 1300 people — and indeed for tackling the climate crisis. with more on this lets speak to our climate reporter esme stallard. how will they achieve this accelerated change? this how will they achieve this accelerated change? this is 136 . a . e accelerated change? this is 136 page document _ accelerated change? this is 136 page document with _ accelerated change? this is 136 page document with lots - accelerated change? this is 136 page document with lots of - page document with lots of technical things in it which i will not be able to go into all of them. one of the key thing is i think that consumers in the public will be really concerned about is particularly

around onshore wind. 0n show in for a long time has been effectively under a moratorium. there has been a lot of local backlash in some communities who saw them as an eyesore and were concerned about local environmental pollution. back in 2015 the previous conservative government took a lot of steps to make it even harder to push those kinds of projects forward but today what ed miliband and his government have announced is that these will now be considered nationally significant infra structure projects. what does that mean? effectively the final decision on whether they go ahead will sit with the secretary of state, in this case ed miliband, rather than local councils. even though there may be local opposition to them, effectively he gets the final safe and can effectively override any of the local opposition. the reason for that, local opposition. the reason forthat, he local opposition. the reason for that, he says it's about national priorities and tackling climate change and those high gas prices he has spoken about. it is trying to accelerate the growth of onshore wind which we know to be one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy. how be one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy.— renewable energy. how quickly

will peeple _ renewable energy. how quickly will people see _ renewable energy. how quickly will people see that _ renewable energy. how quickly will people see that cheaper. will people see that cheaper energy? with winter coming people are concerned about affording bills as they stand. exactly. they have said today they do not expect any significant changes over the short term. claire coutinho, the shadow secretary, said it could push bills up because the investment infrastructure could result in inflationary measures. it's not clear how that will happen, but the govan say this is a long—term commitment so we will see energy bills coming down by the end of the decade. but as you say, unlikely to see any significant impact in the coming winter when people will be looking at their bills.- be looking at their bills. esme stammered. _ be looking at their bills. esme stammered, thank _ be looking at their bills. esme stammered, thank you. - scientists say they've discovered that inter—breeding between neanderthals and early humans — while migrating from africa to europe around 48 thousand years ago — was critical to the success of our species. the study suggests the genes modern humans inherited from neanderthals, may have helped our ancestors adapt to life away from africa. pallab ghosh, has the details.

0ur kind evolved into various different types of human, but why were we the only ones to survive? the answer lies in the dna scientists extracted from ancient fossil remains. they show that our species, modern humans, died out several times. often, we are seeing ourselves, modern humans, as a big story of success coming out of africa 50,000 years ago, moving all over the world, expanding into all kinds of ecosystems and really being the kind of most successful mammal on the planet. but that actually shows that at that time, we were not. we go extinct multiple times in different ecosystems or areas, continents like europe that we moved into. 0ur species, homo sapiens, evolved in africa around 200,000 years ago. a large wave began to leave the continent around 60,000 years ago, running into the neanderthals on the way, and began to spread across the globe.

the new research shows that around 118,000 years ago, those leaving africa interbred with the neanderthals, who lived in the middle east and europe, and their offspring also migrated. the scientists found that those who arrived before the interbreeding went extinct. you can see straight away, the shape of the skull is different. the results, which have been in the journals nature and science, have surprised independent experts. perhaps getting neanderthal dna was even part of the success, because it gave us better adaptive capabilities outside of africa, because we had evolved in africa in an african environment. these other populations like neanderthals had evolved outside of africa, and they had, for example, immune defences to the local diseases and pathogens. by interbreeding with the neanderthals, we got a quick fix to our immune systems. the analysis of ancient dna has lifted a veil on the mysterious story about evolution. that story has today been rewritten. pallab ghosh, bbc news.

the leading french fashion house chanel has appointed a new director in what is described as the hottest role in the industry. the new chief comes from an italian luxury fashion house. the high profile role that chanel has been left vacant sincejune role that chanel has been left vacant since june after the abrupt departure of the previous holder of the position. many say it will be marking a new aesthetic for the iconic brand. the editor in chief of the wall street journal magazine told us what the appointment means for the iconic label. i the appointment means for the iconic label.— iconic label. i think a new direction. _ iconic label. i think a new direction, certainly. - iconic label. i think a new. direction, certainly. people are looking already excitedly

in a very dated crowd that is fashion, looking to see what he does with the signatures of the chanel house, the tweed, the crossed cs, what will they be like in the hands of a craftsman�*s craftsman. i think people are excited to see it and it represents a serious investment, a very risky and exciting choice by the house in that they think this is somebody they can cultivate for decades to come in the manner of frankly karl lagerfeld, appointed in the 80s, passed away in 2019, that is quite a long trajectory on this is someone who could have a similar career arc, provided things go well. an indian teenager has become the youngest—ever world chess champion. atjust 18 years old, gukesh dommaraju is four years younger than the former—record

holder. he beat the defending champion — china's ding liren — in a 14—game world championship contest in singapore. gukesh has long been a prodigy in the chess world, becoming a grandmaster at 12 years old. post win, he spoke to our chief presenter, steve lai. i am feeling great. just when i won the match, it felt a bit overwhelming, but i've had time to calm down and i feel great. we saw you got quite emotional when the final piece was made, when the final move was made, and you knew you had won. tell us a bit about how you were feeling in that moment. yeah, throughout the match, i had several chances to clinch victory. in many of the games, should have put me on the front foot quite seriously. but once i was getting close, i was getting nervous and i was not able to finish him off. this game, the final game of the classical push, i wasn't really expecting

to win this position because it had a very drawing tendency. and then all of a sudden i realised i am actually finishing the match right now and it was a sudden change and i could not process all the new information so quickly. how many moves ahead of the final move did you know you had him? just a couple of moves. i had a sense he was getting more and more nervous and i might have good chances. but, yeah, once he played the second to last move, i knew it. ever felt like an everfelt like an underachiever? you're watching bbc news. the countdown is on for the final ever episode of gavin and stacey. the much—loved comedy returns to our screens on christmas day, and fans are desperate to find out what's happened in the lives of the show�*s main characters since the last episode five years ago.gavin,

stacey, smithy and nessa are all household names — but many smaller characters have also helped to propel the show to its legendary status. ahead of the series finale, our reporter steffan powell has been speaking to some of them. everywhere you look around barry, there are reminders of a phenomenon which started here just over 17 years ago. it goes without saying that gavin and stacey is in the very dna of this town, but the show has also become a big part of the lives of some of the actors who performed in it. has dick powell come a—calling yet? dick powell's name comes up several times throughout the series, and in one of his most memorable scenes, we see him selling stolen meat in the back alleys of barry. 87p for a steak. no, no, not 87p each. 87p for three. you've had a good shave there, to be fair. i'm a bit younger there as well. no, not at all. you haven't aged a day. you still live around here, don't you? i do indeed, yes. how often are you stopped? it does happen, it does happen.

some mornings you must think... no you don't really. because i've lived in barry now for what, nearly 40 years and the difference that gavin and stacey has made to the barry island and to the people and to the shops and premises is amazing. it's really done a really good job for barry island. dick powell also plays a part in a moment of comedy gold that was filmed in this church. stand up and tell us your favourite sandwich. he speaks welsh. that's chicken and glamorgan sausage. father chris appears at some crucial points in the gavin and stacey story — from neil the baby's christening to nessa and dave's wedding, but the favourite sandwich scene has become a fan favourite. you've ruined it! now, sit down. you really do go for it there at the end. was he expecting it to be like that? i don't, i...yes

maybe i wasn't. we were just looking at the visitor's book for the church and people who come to see it to, you know, because they love the show so much, they want to go and see the locations. many people are putting their favourite type of sandwiches in that book. really? yeah. as a result of you and your work. oh, my god. any show that has a following, you know, it's a great honour to be part of something like that. natalie lewis is one of stacey's arch rivals after nessa once had a fight with her dad and her brother. it goes on for ages. oh my gosh, it really does. in the tense scene as gavin and stacey strained by a pregnancy test, they have a face off. you're now a teacher, so you've sort of decided to step away from the boards, as it were. your scene in particular has got a bit of a second life, hasn't it, as an internet meme? yes. how do you feel about that? once a year, there's a sort of a new wave of the children and the pupils here. they come across the scene.

and it does still surprise me that, you know, it's still something so new and exciting for them. an impactful scene. well, it's so brilliantly written. it's so brilliantly written. gavin and stacey has firmly won its place as one of the most loved sitcoms of all time. and another cult character is currently starring in the west end stage version of another british favourite. 0wain hughes. and do you? no, i don't. hi. nice to meet you, gavin shipman. 0wain hughes. and before you ask, no, i don't. but not everyone gets the joke. am i being thick, because i just don't get that? - me neither. yeah, thatjoke. it's going to run and run. you're going to have to have it on your — not to be too morbid. no, i don't. it's funny because there are some fan theories online that there is actually a joke.

i love it. you can get on these threads and, like, there's so many people know exactly what the joke is. what thejoke is, you know? you've done your fair share of really top end comedy, you know, in your career. are you able to make as much comedy as there was coming out of the uk? is there the next gavin and stacey coming out? i don't know. i don't think comedy in this country is in a great state at the moment. i don't. i don't think people are being given a chance. i do feel like there's not the individual voices in comedy today. when you reflect back on the fact that you are part of this journey for gavin and stacey, how do you feel about that? i am incredibly proud to have played a part in it, you know, and i will tell people that there's no joke for the rest of my life quite happily. the series might be coming to an end, but the impact that it had on those who took part, on the fans and on this town will be felt

for much, much longer. steffan powell, bbc news, barry. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. thursday was a very grey, gloomy day, really, a lot of low cloud, some mist, some hill fog, and some drizzle. in fact, during thursday, we actually had a weak warm front that moved across england, introducing some humid air and that's what resulted in the drizzle. at the moment, the computers are under—doing the amount of drizzle out there as well. it's pretty extensive, really, across much of england, into parts of eastern wales. and we've got mist and hill fog patches around as well. frost is relatively rare, but there are a few patches in scotland. that's where the lowest temperatures are heading into friday. now, the next 36 hours sees this cold front dive southwards. that's going to introduce some patches of rain and again some slightly colder air following that feature through for a time. here's the weather picture, then, into friday. we start off grey and gloomy with some low cloud, some hill fog patches. and remember that extensive

drizzle, england, eastern areas of wales. there will be a few patches elsewhere too. now, through the day we get this weather front moving in to the north—west of scotland. that'll bring some heavier rain and the winds will tend to pick up here. for most, temperatures will range between 6 and 8 celsius, but there will be some colder spots in scotland. heading into the weekend, we get this cold front move southwards. it's going to be very weak, bringing some patches of rain, some colder air following that through during saturday. but as the front pushes southwards, taking the patchy rain with it, actually, behind that feature, it will be a much brighter kind of day with a slice of sunshine for a time before we see the next system start to move into western scotland and northern ireland, with cloudier weather returning back into the afternoon. so grab the sunshine when it does appear in the sky. now, heading into sunday, we will see a big change in the weather patterns as these milder south—westerly winds start to move in off the atlantic. and these are here to stay for quite some time. now, sunday itself will probably have quite a lot of cloud, still with some bits and pieces of rain left

over across western areas of the country. there will be a few breaks here and there, so you might see some glimpses of sunshine, but overall, it looks like it's going to be turning cloudier and some heavy rain that will end up across the north—west of scotland. temperatures, though, much, much higher. 11—13 degrees, turning a great deal milder and that milder weather is here to stay next week as well. but often, as we see at this time of year with these kind of mild weather spells, we often have a lot of cloud and bits of pieces of rain and that's certainly in the forecast next week.

hea live from damascus, this is bbc news. across syria today has been called victory day as people gather to celebrate the end of 50 years of the regime of the

assad family.— 50 years of the regime of the assad family. this is the seen live in the _ assad family. this is the seen live in the grand _ assad family. this is the seen live in the grand mosque - assad family. this is the seen live in the grand mosque of i live in the grand mosque of damascus in umayyad mosque where people have gathered for friday prayers on this momentous day. i am martine croxall. the other main story is this our... —— stories this our... the uk economy shrank for the second month in a row in october after official figures showed a 0.1% drop and the french president emmanuel macron is expected to name a new prime minister today, after the collapse welcome to damascus. you join here at our position overlooking the main square in damascus. let me step aside and

you can see the crowds hour by