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| | PM's first electoral test sees Labour hold seat | |  | | | | | | | | | A by-election, seen by many as Rishi Sunak's first test at the ballot box, has taken place. The result has come in - it's a loss for the prime minister and a win for the opposition. But Labour was fully expected to retain the City of Chester seat once the election was triggered by the resignation of Christian Matheson, who quit after Parliament's watchdog recommended he be suspended for serious sexual misconduct. The Labour MP admitted he had committed a minor breach of the code - here's more.
Samantha Dixon was announced as the constituency's new MP after securing 61.22% of the vote - that's a 13.76% swing from the Conservatives. In 2019, Labour won the seat by gaining 49.6% of the vote, and Ms Dixon said people in Chester "have said unreservedly that Rishi Sunak's Conservatives no longer have a mandate to govern". So, where does this leave Tories? The party has performed badly in recent by-elections, and those losses increased political pressure on the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who later resigned. This by-election was also the first since his successor Liz Truss caused market turbulence with her mini-Budget. But Tory candidate and NHS nurse Liz Wardlaw did come second, except with a much smaller share of the vote - 22.40%. The full list of results are in our story, take a look. | | | | | |
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| | Up to 13,000 Ukrainian troops have died, Zelensky aide reveals | | | | | | | | | The number of Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed since Russia invaded more than nine months ago is between 10,000 and 13,000. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, disclosed the figures on Ukrainian TV outlet Channel 24, saying Kyiv was "openly talking" about the number of deaths. Although it hasn't been confirmed by the country's military, his openness came amid confusion caused by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen. She had said the figure stood at 100,000, but that mistake was later clarified by the commission, which said it referred to those both killed and injured. As for Russia, our Russian Service has established that at least 9,311 soldiers of all ranks have been killed but the true death toll could be more than 18,600. Read more on this story, and other developments in the war. | | | | | |
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| | What happens to the Covid virus on groceries? | | | | | | | | | Are there any foods you eat without washing or cooking first? The usual suspects like fruit and vegetables are probably on the list but you might think twice about doing that after reading this. Scientists have carried out tests for the Food Standards Agency to find out what happens to the Covid virus when it comes into contact with groceries. It turns out it can live on some of them for days, but note that the amount of exposure in this study isn't a reflection of what you would expect in shops. So, the risk to consumers remains very low. But what does happen when the virus contaminates packaging and food products, like fruit, pastries and bottled drinks? You can find out here. | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | Every week, children criss-cross the UK on buses and trains, ferrying drugs as part of county lines operations. BBC News spent months with one organisation battling to help children who are in danger, hearing young people's stories of abuse and their families' heartbreak, and learning what it takes for them to break free. Three people tell us their story of county lines.
"I have seen a lot of things, seen people get kettled with boiling water," says Nicole. She was recruited to a drug-running gang at the age of just 11. "I've seen people get stabbed because of the littlest disagreement, over things like £20." Before she joined the gang, she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor, showering at school when she got the chance. "It finds you," Nicole, now 18, says about county lines. "You don't find it." | | | | | | | | | | | | Claire Kendall and Jeremy Cooke | | BBC News | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | Prince Harry and Meghan make many of this morning's front pages following the release of their Netflix documentary trailer. It is described as a "bombshell" by Metro, while the Daily Express asks the Duke of Sussex: "Do you really hate your family so much?" The Daily Star covers the story by saying the "publicity-shy couple" are sharing their secrets with billions of people. But the release is seen as an "ambush", the Sun reports, as it coincides with Prince William and Princess Catherine's visit to the US, deepening the crisis for the Royal Family, the Daily Mirror says. Meanwhile, plans for strikes over Christmas, university free speech and a backlog of parcel deliveries are among the other stories making the headlines. Read the newspaper review in full here. | | | | | |
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| | | | | Braverman Reappointment sets dangerous precedent - MPs | | | | | | | NHS Doctors raise safety fears at Birmingham hospitals | | | | | | | Food Christmas dinner basics see big price rises | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you do one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you listen to one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you read one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | Need something different? | | | | | | | | | If you could live in any city in the world where would you choose? New York, Paris or maybe Sydney? Hold that thought for a moment because you might want to know where it and others rank in terms of costs. The list of the world's most expensive cities has been revealed, along with the ones that won't set you back as much. Here they are.
Let's swap air travel for a train journey (of the future). Engineers have burrowed a mile-long tunnel on the HS2 rail route in Warwickshire. It's ready for the next stage, but cameras have travelled through so we can see what it's like in there. Take a look.
And finally, burrowing wasn't needed for this last one - just some nifty moves to get under a fence. The animals making those moves were lions, which meant they escaped from their enclosure but luckily they didn't stray too far. This happened last month but the zoo in question has just released footage of how it happened. Watch it here. | | | | | |
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| | On this day | | | | | | | 1988 A search is under way for thousands of people feared dead after a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh. | | | | | | | | |
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| | | Let us know what you think of this newsletter by emailing bbcnewsdaily@bbc.co.uk. If you’d like to recommend it to a friend, forward this email. New subscribers can sign up here. | | | | | |
