live from london, this is bbc news. a us government shutdown looms after dozens of republicans vote against a spending bill backed by donald trump. the labour grandee lord mandelson is expected to be named as the uk's next ambassador to the us. american diplomats make theirfirst official visit to damascus in more than a decade for talks with syria's new islamist leadership.

it isa it is a chaotic a few hours ahead. lawmakers are scrambling to get this last—minute deal through. the last we heard from our reporter on the hill right now is that they are expecting a vote around 10am local time,

so around 1500 gmt, so that might be ambitious. the 38 republicans who voted against the deal that they now have to win over to get this thing through, and the clock is rapidly ticking. is rapidly ticking. if it is not done by if it is not done by midnight tonight, then midnight tonight, then funding runs out at 1201. funding runs out at 1201. why has it got to this point? why has it got to this point? there has been a long history there has been a long history of shutdowns in the us. of shutdowns in the us. one thing i think was kind one thing i think was kind of unexpected this week of unexpected this week was the amount of resistance was the amount of resistance to the trump—backed deal to the trump—backed deal from members of his own party. from members of his own party. he thought he had taken control he thought he had taken control of the party at every level of of the party at every level of government. government. the 38 republicans who voted the 38 republicans who voted against some of his closest against some of his closest allies in the past, and i think allies in the past, and i think that was kind of unexpected. but more than that, the involvement of elon musk and donald trump and jd vance in the process earlier this week ultimately doomed to the negotiated bipartisan deal.

so that has kinder brought us that was kind of unexpected. to where are now. who wants to totally get rid of the debt limit, and that would be great news for people who want to spend lots of money, including both democrats and republicans favouring their pet projects. tell me more about elon musk�*s

involvement, because social media has been having a field day describing him as president musk and as president musk and vice president trump. vice president trump. what has been what has been going on with him? going on with him? because there is lots of talk because there is lots of talk of the sort of pressure of the sort of pressure that is being put on lawmakers. that is being put on lawmakers. people havejoked he should people havejoked he should be the house speaker, be the house speaker, since mikejohnson doesn't seem since mikejohnson doesn't seem to be able to run to be able to run his own conference. his own conference. so a few days ago, elon musk a while if he starts so a few days ago, elon musk heard about this deal brewing on capitol hill. heard about this deal he is in charge of he is in charge of trump's department of government efficiency, trump's department of which is not going to be a real department, be a real department, more an advisory body, more an advisory body, and he did more than a hundred and he did more than a hundred tweets on his social media tweets on his social media platform saying this was a terrible bill and platform saying this was a terrible bill and republicans should not pass it, republicans should not pass it, there is tonnes of government there is tonnes of government pork in it, and then pork in it, and then all those lawmakers got all those lawmakers got lots of phone calls, lots of phone calls, e—mails, twitter messages, e—mails, twitter messages, saying, tank this bill, saying, tank this bill, so elon musk, an unelected so elon musk, an unelected billionaire, he has $400 billionaire, he has $400 billion in net worth, billion in net worth,

he is very powerful in american he is very powerful in american politics, and sometimes even politics, and sometimes even goes against stuff that trump goes against stuff that trump wants, and so trump may not wants, and so trump may not like him after like him after a while if he starts to continue to interfere. he is a billionaire, of course, millions and millions of ordinary americans are likely to be affected if there is a shutdown. i want to put onto the screen the pictures from the last really major shutdown, in donald trump's first term, the longest shutdown in history, just tell viewers again around the world who may not be familiar, if we get a shutdown, what stops? what is affected? many federal government employees don't get paid. what is ironic as they will get paid after the government reopens, so it isjust

like they don't have to work,

democrats don't want this to be shut down either, so it is in their interests to sort this. lord peter mandelson will be formally confirmed as the uk's next ambassador to the united states today — the first politician to be appointed to the role for almost half a century. sir keir starmer�*s announcement means that the former senior labour cabinet minister and european commissioner for trade, will take up the postjust as donald trump begins his second term as president. 0ur political correspondent helen catt reports. peter mandelson has been a familiar face in the labour party for decades. he was one of the driving forces behind the creation of new labour in the 1990s. a trusted adviser to tony blair with a reputation as a master of spin. he'd been rumoured as a potential candidate for a while, but had been cagey when asked about

being the ambassador. would you be interested if you were asked? i would be very interested indeed in giving advice about trade to whoever is appointed. elected as the mp for hartlepool in 1992, peter mandelson went on to serve in tony blair's cabinet, but was forced to resign twice. in the noughties, he went to brussels as the european trade commissioner before returning as business secretary under gordon brown. it's his experience of trade that's one of the reasons behind his appointment as ambassador. donald trump has talked of imposing big tariffs on imports into the us, which the prime minister yesterday told mps the uk needed to avoid. it won't come as any surprise to you that i'm not a fan of tariffs. and therefore we have to make sure that we avoid tariffs. we've got very good trade with the us as we've got very good trade with other countries around the world. i want to improve on that.

a government source said that lord mandelson was close to the prime minister, with unrivalled political and policy experience, particularly on the crucial issue of trade. it's also thought his political nous will help him handle what could be a tricky relationship with an unpredictable president. one thing that is a certainty with the trump government is in that sam tweet storm that comes most mornings of the week, at some point, trump will say something, will tweet something, that will be quite a story in the uk. he did so several times in his first term. so peter mandelson, i'm sure, will be prepared for that and be prepared fora bumpy and difficult ride. but he clearly wanted the job very much, so i'd say good luck to him. not everyone is going not everyone is going to welcome this appointment. to welcome this appointment. peter mandelson remains peter mandelson remains divisive within labour, divisive within labour, particularly for those particularly for those on the left of the party. on the left of the party. but it is how he gets but it is how he gets on with donald trump on with donald trump and his administration that and his administration that will really matter. he and the white house will really matter. he and the white house had already been told had already been told about the appointment. about the appointment. helen catt, bbc news. helen catt, bbc news.

us diplomats are making us diplomats are making their first official their first official visit to damascus in more visit to damascus in more than a decade for talks than a decade for talks with syria's new islamist leadership. the diplomats are meeting the diplomats are meeting representives of the group, representives of the group, which is effectively in charge which is effectively in charge of the country, after overthrowing president assad. of the country, after washington still designates hts as a terrorist group — but delegations from the un but delegations from the un and countries including the uk, france and germany have already and countries including the uk, been in damascus to meet the new leaders. the new leaders. 0ur middle east correspondent lina sinjab had this update about the meeting. well, the meetings took place this afternoon, and the us undersecretary was planning to do a press conference with some journalists, but it was cancelled due to security reasons. however, there will be a virtual briefing at 8:30pm local time here to brief

journalists about the outcome of this meeting.

take place soon where he invites all spectrum of syrian society for talks to discuss the future of syria, and to discuss how to build a constitution and the political spectrum of the country. lina sinjab for us there, thank you. a man has been arrested after a knife attack at a zagreb primary school in croatia. a seven—year—old child was killed — and several other people injured — including pupils and a teacher. back injuly, a gunman killed six people at a nursing home in eastern croatia , in an attack that horrified the country. croatian authorities say they plan to hold a national day of mourning on saturday. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're watching bbc news. let's turn to ukraine. ukraine's foreign ministry says buildings housing several western embassies in kyiv have been damaged during the latest russian air attacks. at least three civilians have been killed and 25 injured by a wave of strikes, which also hit kherson and president zelensky�*s home town. russia has used artillery and ballistic missiles, according to ukraine's defence ministry. critical infrastructure has been damaged, leaving thousands without public transport and electricity. michael bociurkiw is a senior fellow at the atlantic council. he gave his analysis on the russian strike on ukraine. in a war where several red lines have already been crossed, this should be regarded as a pretty big one. i spoke to contacts in kyiv today and they said this was different than anything else they have experienced in terms of the power of the vibrations that they felt deep down in bomb shelters.

but in terms of where it struck, this is the heart of the international business community in kyiv, the wall street if you will, and i hope that the business community will see it that way, that a red line has been crossed. maybe for the time being, deemphasise the reinvestment of rebuilding ukraine and focus more on how to push russia back before more damage is done. ramp up the sanctions a lot more, push ahead with war crimes prosecutions and very importantly not allow ukraine to be pushed into negotiations with russia that it is believed russia will not honour. so a lot of points here to cover, but it is a huge red line that was crossed today. and also the so—called notre dame of kyiv, saint nicholas church, heavily damaged as well. i will come back to some of those political points in a moment, but in terms of what has been hit, again because it

is not a new tactic, going after the energy infrastructure, and that of course comes on the coldest day of the year. there are really harsh consequences. absolutely. i have just been through the cold snap where we have very little power in cities like 0desa, and families without means cannot cope for 12 plus hours a day without power, and the russians seem to be timing this exactly when those quotes happen, so maximising the pain to civilians. but again, i can't emphasise enough, if this isn't stopped any time soon, where will the economy go? where will the investment environment that people hoped would be alive whenever the war ends, how can business be assured, international business, that it is safe to come into ukraine after what happened today? and moscow said this attack is in response to the us missiles in south—west russia. it is interesting, because in that interview that donald trump game to time magazine only a few days ago,

he called allowing the use of us weapons on russian targets crazy, and then the kremlin today saying trump's comments fully align with moscow's position. when you hear that, what do you think? i don't believe anything donald trump says any more. we should have learned our lesson in trump 1.0, but i think the feeling in ukraine from talking to my contacts there is, the next six months, the way they describe it is black, because knowing exactly what happened, if you wanted me to take a guess on what would happen, i think i would say mr trump wanting to present himself as the master of the art of the deal will push mr putin towards some kind of settlement. it is very possible that mr putin will say, no way, we want more, and then mr trump in a best case scenario will come to kyiv and say, we will give you everything you have been asking for, and not this drip, drip approach that has been followed by the biden administration. so that would be a best case

scenario for kyiv, anyway. what you think of the critical decisions european capitals need to make? because putin only yesterday was talking about his willingness to compromise, but made the point that zelensky had to compromise as well. we are in really critical moments of this conflict, aren't we? indeed. the new eu chief, the former prime minister of estonia, has said that ukraine should not be pushed into peace talks, and even if russia calls for a demilitarised zone and peace keepers, they are not the ones keeping the peace. so i think also what's happening here is that ukraine a and the surrounding areas are paying the price for a lack of investment in these various european economies. there just isn't enough muscle to defend themselves and also ukraine under attack, and if this war goes further, and a lot of us suspect it

will, go beyond ukrainian borders, the way russia is ramping up their military industrial complex right now, it is going to be a very tough conflict for europe to respond to by itself. breaking news on that conflict, because russia says that six people have been killed in a ukrainian missile attack on the town of rylsk in russia's kursk region. apologies for those pictures, the wrong pictures there. according to the local governor, ukraine fired us—supplied himars rockets, damaging several buildings including a school. the bbc cannot independently verify the details at this stage. the town of rylsk is located some 16 miles from the border with ukraine's sumy region. earlier this week, ukraine said its military had fought against north korean troops sent to bolster russian forces

in the kursk region, as the war continues. they're said to be the best troops pyongyang has — which has raised questions about how effective they might be. the bbc has been talking to two former members of the north korean armed forces who have defected to south korea to find out more.

do you think that there are going to be a lot of defections from the soldiers?

now, here in the uk. the family of two men charged over an altercation at manchester airport say they have instructed the lawyer who represented the family of murdered teenager stephen lawrence, to represent them. mohammed amaaz, who is 20, and muhammed amaad, who's 25, have been charged with actual bodily harm over the altercation with police. mobile phone footage had shown one of the officers kicking and stamping on the head of one man while he was lying on the floor, as the incident came to an end. the cps says it took the combination of evidence and expert opinion into account, before deciding

that no charges will be brought against any of the police officers involved. turning to france. gisele pelicot�*s lawyer says her client would have no fear of a new trial should any of the men convicted of raping her decide to appeal. it follows the conviction of her ex—husband and 50 other defendants yesterday. president macron hs praised gisele pelicot — in a social media post — saying she had "moved and inspired france and the world." dominique pelicot received the maximum 20—year sentence for organising the repeated drugging and rape of his then wife by dozens of strangers for almost a decade. under french law the men have ten days to decide whether to appeal. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield told us more about the support gisele pelicot is receiving.

as you say, there has been a unanimous outpouring of gratitude and praise from the country, from the political spectrum, and of course as you said there by president macron who described her in a x post as a trailblazer for women's rights and praised herfor what she has done in pushing forward women's rights, and the honour she has done to herself in the country. he said that across the world people have been looking on in admiration, and incorporation of that behind me here we have a demonstration, not really a protest but more support and thanks to gisele pelicot. several support and thanks to gisele several bus loads have come across the border today. they thought that today would be the end of the trial but they have come across as well reflecting this kind of international recognition of what she has done. ., done. hugh schofield there in paris.

and in the next few minutes, we are talking boxing. and of course, this after the news conference yesterday, usyk and fury ahead of tomorrow's rematch, and this went on for 11 minutes and 20 seconds. we will hear from tom gray who was there at the first clash between these two. hello there. today showers are following a band of rain that's moving across the country and it's breezy too, but, over the weekend, the winds are going to be much stronger. it could well bring with it some travel disruption and the air is turning colder, so the showers that will be pushing in will be turning wintry by the time we get to sunday. we've got this area of cloud. everything is rattling in from the atlantic. this area of cloud will be arriving overnight. this is the cloud that's been bringing the rain today and keeping temperatures around about nine or ten degrees after what was quite a cold start across some eastern parts of the uk. it's across eastern parts of england that we'll see that rain to end the day.

that moves away. skies will clearfor just a short while. then that area of cloud comes in from the atlantic fairly quickly. it'll bring some more rain in from the west and the winds starting to pick up, as well. so probably not quite as cold as it was last night for the eastern side of the uk. temperatures will be down to around six or seven degrees. the windy weather on saturday is going to be more across the northern half of the uk. widely gusts 50 to 60mph, it could be getting close to 80mph in the far north of scotland. very windy conditions, though, across the whole of the uk. this is all that's left of the rain as it moves down into southern parts of england. showers following on behind and those beginning to turn wintry over the hills in northern scotland, where it's going to be very, very windy. we've got temperatures in scotland and northern ireland falling away to seven or eight degrees. further south just about making double figures. but the air is getting colder through the weekend. we are drawing in polar maritime air, the air coming all the way from greenland and iceland.

it's that area of low pressure running to the north of scotland that's bringing the really windy weather. further south it will be windier on sunday. it will be windy across eastern parts of england, but it's elsewhere that we will see those winds gusting widely 50 to 60mph, perhaps a little bit stronger than that. squally showers coming in and those will be heavy, possibly thundery, and there will be some wintriness in there, as well. some hail too. frequent showers coming into northern parts of scotland. another windy day on sunday and it will feel colder, as well. widely those temperatures at sixes and sevens. so getting colder over the weekend, but heading into the christmas week temperatures are going to be rising. milderair coming infrom the atlantic, less windy, many places will be dry, but pretty cloudy.

this is bbc news, the headlines: hours away from a us government shutdown after dozens of republicans voted against a spending bill backed by donald trump. american diplomats make theirfirst official visit to damascus in more than a decade for talks with syria's new islamist leadership. a bbc investigation reveals how myanmar�*s military is cracking from within as spies help pro—democracy rebels make crucial gains.

lord mandelson has just lord mandelson hasjust been appointed as the uk's next ambassador to the us. sue gray, the civil servant who investigated partygate and went on to become sir keir starmer�*s chief of staff, has been made a life peer. and the face—off lasted 11 minutes and 20 seconds. now all eyes on usyk and fury ahead of their hugely anticipated rematch tomorrow. straight back to the breaking news i mentioned in the headlines, because it isjust been officially confirmed by the uk prime minister who has confirmed the appointment of peter mandelson as the next uk ambassador to the us. and peter mandelson has spoken about this being the great honour to serve the country as that appointment

is confirmed. it is a hugely significant, because we are going to enter into