iam in i am in stroud, where it is snowing. it may not be real but it is probably as close as many of us will get to a white christmas. a cloudy and damp day, murky in the west, rain crossing the north of the country. tonight and tomorrow the wind becomes a feature. details later. good morning. it s wednesday, the 20th of december. junior doctors in england are about to start a three day strike in a dispute over pay. they ll walk out from seven o clock this morning, after five weeks of negotiations failed to reach an agreement. this time of year is traditionally one of the nhs s most busy periods. our health correspondent sharon barbour has the details. hospitals across england, already struggling with the pressures that winter brings, are bracing themselves, as tens of thousands ofjunior doctors walk out for three days. whose nhs? our nhs! dr greenhaus, a surgical registrar. he s already qualified to undertake major knee and hip surgery. every time that i go and see a patien
of an extension as hamas offers to release more hostages. dozens of israelis who ve been held captive in gaza have been released by hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by the uk government. in return, 117 palestinian prisoners have been freed. president biden said he wants to keep the deal going so all hostages can be brought home and more aid can be sent to gaza. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega reports. free again. 14 israeli hostages released by hamas head home after their long ordeal, along with three foreign nationals. among them were is year olds dafna and ela elyakim, eight, who were finally reunited with their mum, chen goldstein almog, who was released along with her three children, and roni kriboy, released 51 days after being kidnapped from a festival where he was working as sound crew. it followed a weekend of happy reunions. people from kfar aza watched on as news of their friends avigail idan spent her fourth birthday in captivity. the israeli a