i'm helena humphrey. good to have you with us. we start in southwest russia, where one official there says ukraine has carried out the most "severe" shelling since the kremlin�*s full—scale invasion of ukraine began. these pictures show smoke rising above the city of belgorod where russia's emergency ministry says 20 people, including three children, were killed in air strikes. more than 100 others were injured. kyiv says only military facilities were targeted. the city is located approximately a0 kilometres north of the border with ukraine, 80 kilometres away from the ukrainian city of kharkiv. it comes a day after friday's massive bombardment of ukraine, the biggest of the war so far. ukraine's president zelensky says at least 39 people were killed when 150 russian missiles and drones were launched at cities across ukraine. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. caught on dash—cam, a giant

explosion in the centre of belgorod. there was panic as people ran for cover — not everyone could. russia says at least 20 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured after a series of ukrainian strikes on the heart of the city. although the russian military claimed it had shot down most of the missiles. as emergency crews rushed to the scene, the scale of the damage became clear. billowing smoke making belgorod look more than ever like a front—line city. ukraine's border is just 20 miles away. the local governor, vyacheslav gladkov, said these were the deadliest consequences of ukrainian shelling that his region had experienced. the attack came just a day after russia had carried out

a huge wave of strikes across ukraine with missiles and with drones. at least 39 people, kyiv said, were killed. belgorod has come under attack before... ..with explosions like this one at the airport and at a power station. this kind of thing never happened before russia launched its full scale invasion of ukraine. now a deadly new strike on the eve of the new year holiday. russia has already hit back with new attacks of its own. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. ukraine's military says its air defence system has been activated in kyiv to repel a russian drone attack. and one person has been killed in kherson by russian shelling. officials in kharkiv say russian strikes hit a hotel and residential building. 19 people were injured — no deaths have been reported.

let's turn now to the middle east, where israel says its forces have raided hamas sites in the city of khan younis as it extends its offensive in the south of gaza. the idf says it's recovered what it called "very valuable intelligence material". health officials in gaza say 165 palestinians have been killed in the last day. a representative from the un relief agency for palestinian refugees told the bbc that displaced gazans are living in the open and in the parks. meanwhile, there are reports that in recent days at least 100,000 people have fled to rafah, which borders egypt in southern gaza. amid the deepening humanitarian crisis israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, gave a defiant tv address — israel would continue fighting on "all fronts" and that the war would last many more months until victory is achieved. translation: the war is at its height. - we are fighting on all of the fronts. we have huge success but we also have painful cases. achieving victory will require time. as the israeli army chief

of staff has said, the war will continue for many more months. yolande knell sent this report from jerusalem. israel's widening military campaign in gaza is now focused on the three urban refugee camps in the centre, but hasn't abated in the north and in the south, and khan younis, seeing fierce street battles going on still between hamas fighters and israeli soldiers. this is where israel believes that hamas leaders may be hiding. right down on the border with egypt, tens of thousands of gazans have arrived there in just the past few days, fleeing from the latest fighting. they have been pitching makeshift tents but there is very little sanitation there, food and water are in short supply, and we're hearing about the spread, the increased spread of infectious diseases. looking forward into the new year, palestinians are desperate for a ceasefire and israeli families of those 100—plus hostages still held

by hamas in gaza are extremely worried, they want their loved ones brought home. in his latest television address, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has reiterated that the war will go on until victory was achieved over hamas and that could take months. yolande knell reporting there. north korea's leader kim jong—un says his country faces unprecedented pressure from the united states and has no option but to press on with its nuclear ambitions. mr kim was speaking at his country's year—end party meeting, which wrapped upjust hours ago. he also ruled out any possibility of reunification on the korean peninsula and said he plans to launch three more spy satellites next year as part of efforts to strengthen military capabilities, according to state media. earlier, i spoke with professor robert kelly, an expert in inter—korean affairs. very good to have you with us this evening. what do you make of some of these comments from kim jong—un

and do you think that regional leaders, western allies, will be taking them seriously? well, it's nothing really that we haven't heard from the north koreans before. i mean, it would be really remarkable if kimjong—un or anyone in the leadership came out and said that things were getting better and we can talk to the south koreans and maybe the americans aren't so bad and maybe we can strike a deal with them, right? i mean, the north koreans really never talk like that and a lot of that is almost certainly because north korea needs to justify its own existence, right? if north korea wasn't in this harsh, oppositional relationship with south korea and the united states, there would be no reason for north korea to exist in the same way that, you know, once east germany gave up socialism and the berlin wall opened, there was no reason to it exist anymore, so the north koreans have to always talk this way because it helps to explain why the regime exists at all and it also explains the privation that its citizens suffer. so, i don't think it's really remarkable the north talks this way. they often have threatened to make war with the united states and south korea before. to be honest, i think the big thing coming up, from what i've heard

from the conference, is this discussion about more reconnaissance satellites. that's operationally something new. but in terms of political rhetoric, no, i don't think there's much new here. well, talking about some of that reconnaissance, those spy satellites and plans to reportedly put three more up next year... right. ..how concerned do you think the west should be about that if you say it's something new? is it getting to a point now when it comes to that military technology that there is a strong advancement here? yeah, it looks — well, we don't know yet, right? i mean, the last — the first couple of crashes — the first couple of launches last year crashed. then, there was one that went up. the south koreans and the americans were a little bit coy sharing with the international community of what exactly they think the north koreans are getting. in the past, the north koreans have put stuff up and then lied about it, right? so, it's all — you know, right now, it's kind of hard to know. but i think what's important is that the north koreans are increasingly looking for satellite reconnaissance over south korea, presumably, and the united states, right? they're probably — i think we are concerned one, that they're getting that from the russians, right? because we know now that kimjong—un has really thrown his weight, whatever

there is of it, behind the russian war in ukraine and the russians in turn are giving kim missile and satellite technology. that's the first thing. and the second thing is it's now increasingly clear, you know, if you're putting satellites up for reconnaissance, what that basically means is that the north koreans are planning to fight any future conflict with missiles and that almost certainly means nuclear—tipped missiles, right? the south korean stalemate is not a conventional terrestrial one anymore. it's really now all about missiles and you've to have the satellites for better targeting, so this is new. you know, the bbc has spoken with north korean defectors who've described a deteriorating humanitarian situation inside north korea that you were just alluding to... right. ..you know, from anything to, you know, severe food shortages. do you think that this heightened rhetoric by kimjong—un — or continued heightened rhetoric — could essentially be interpreted as a way to distract from the situation within its own borders? absolutely, right? i mean, north korea has had a caloric deficiency on average going back to the 1990s. north korea requires outside subsidisation in order to survive.

china provides that but, you know, doesn't fully step up. the north korean military sucks an enormous amount of resources out of north korean gdp, away from the agricultural sector where it's really needed. you know, again, we don't have a lot of good information and, like you said, there is a defector community and we can talk to them. there is an ngo community that's had sporadic access to north korea. but it looks like most north koreans don't meet the minimum who caloric intake threshold, right? in other words, what that means is that most north koreans are living under malnutrition and there's no reason to expect that to stop. if north korea is going to say, you know, we are going to build more missiles, we're going to build more nuclear weapons, the things in the speech, we're going to put up submarines, all the satellites — all that requires a lot of resources from a country that's very poor, right? i mean, north korea didn't have nuclear weapons. we basically understand them as something like a third world backward or a failed state. and so, you know, the more you put into the military in a country like north korea, you know, the end result of that is civilian privations. so, yes, this will continue. all right, robert kelly, political analyst on inter—korean affairs. always good to get your take. thank you, robert. thank you for having me.

here in the us. federal prosecutors asked a us appeals court saturday to reject the former president's claims that he is immune from criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. mr trump faces four counts, including conspiring to defraud the us. he has pleaded not guilty. but mr trump's legal team is arguing the former president is immune from criminal liability and that the case against him should be dismissed. it comes as two us states — colorado and maine — have opted to remove the former president from the primary ballot over his actions they allege as insurrection on 6 january, 2021. moves which could be taken up by the us supreme court. some prominent republicans, including former trump white house counsel ty cobb, are joining special counsel jack smith in arguing against immunity for the former president. i spoke with mr cobb earlier. ty cobb, thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. now, you are a lawyer for the trump white house.

despite that, you have now decided to back special counsel jack smith and arguing against the former president, why is that? well, there is no change of view on my part. when i was at the white house i didn't believe that presidents had immunity they still don't that, and i don't believe it constitutionally. as a free citizen and former government employee i am totally at ease with taking a position on this and one consistent with the constitution. there is no criminal immunity in the constitution, and the president's position on impeachment is absurd and will be exposed as such. thejudge�*s opinion is quite impressive. she got it right. it was fairly stated and she dealt with every argument that the president and his lawyers presented, for which there was absolutely

no legal support and rules consistent with the compass constitution. i just want to point out, donald trump has pleaded not guilty to charges, also overturn a presidential election, i want to get your view, how do you assess his actions between the november 2020 election, and the us capitol on january 6, 2021? it is interesting, as you say. he plead not guilty to that conduct but his position in this particular appeal is even if he did it it was ok, because he was immune as president of the united states. he's already conceded in other pleadings that he did so in his capacity as an individual and a candidate. that totally disposes of the argument that he's presented and will be considered by the dc circuit. my own view is, you know, in addition to being irrelevant, is that he did

insight people and he did attempt to prevent the laws of the united states being carried out faithfully and he did prevent — attempt to prevent, a peaceful transfer of power. i think those are constitutional crimes we have never ever before encountered and i think they shake the foundation of — the constitutional foundation of the united states in a way that requires justice. so all of that, then, i guess, brings us to the question of what we've seen in colorado and maine, with those moves to remove donald trump from the ballot under the 14th amendment of the us constitution. if we do see the supreme court take up that case, how do you think that it will rule in that?

i believe the vote will be overwhelmingly contrary to the position that colorado and maine have taken, because, sadly, the article 3 specifies who it applies to and it doesn't mention the president or the vice president, unlike other articles in the constitution which, you know, specifically do mention the president and vice president when it talks to applicability and the case law is such as officers of the united states is a phrase that is understood to be appointed officers under article 2, but doesn't, unless specified include the president and vice president. i think the law favours the former president in connection with the maine and colorado decisions and i think he will be on the ballot. could ijust ask, what do you think this would mean for his campaign if the supreme court does rule in his favour?

it's really hard to say, i mean, in an ordinary case somebody who has reasonably been found liable of sexual indictments would not be eligible material. in this crazy time in which we live, his supporters seem to think that qualifies him more for president. i'm sad that it's come to that in america and i hope that people wake up and do what they have to do. they're not going to be able to do it by kicking him off the ballot but they can certainly rebuke him at the ballot box and i think that's the way our process was designed and hopefully it will way it will all walk. i don't think there is a republican party at least as it was formerly known, as long as trump is the leader and continually picking candidates and abusing his influence. you know, to destroy the party.

i mean, most of the candidates he supported and picked have cost seats in the senate and seats in the house, republicans would probably be up to a0 seats in the house and ten in the senate, but for trump, i don't think that trump's stature does anything for the republican party, he doesn't really care on principle, i don't think, between the parties. he is interested in power and in being in charge. so i think that republicans... crosstalk. if i mayjust ask you... i never have. yeah, no, iwould not. and i never have and i do believe that it's important for republicans and chris christie to, you know, call him out. make it plain that he should not be a candidate for the united states, he should be injail. ty cobb, former trump white house lawyer, thank you for being with us. always a pleasure,

thank you so much. let's turn to some important news around the world. the italian city of venice is taking another step towards fighting overtourism in the picturesque city of canals. injune, tours will be limited to 25 people per group. the city is also banning the use of loudspeakers — a common feature of large tour groups. it will also trial a five euro day—tripper fee in mid—2024. thousands of people rallied in serbia's capital on saturday, demanding that the results of recent parliamentary elections be annulled. the demonstration in belgrade follows reports of irregularities in the 17 december vote. preliminary results from the state election commission suggest the governing party of president aleksandar vucic won the most votes, but opposition parties allege electoral fraud. taiwan's presidential candidates focused on relations with china in televised debate two weeks before election day. william lai of the ruling democratic people's party defended taiwan's sovereignty while saying he wants communication with china.

beijing has refused to hold talks with lai and incumbent president tsai ing—wen. lai is ahead of main rival hou yu—ih of the kuomintang in most polls. police in australia are warning people not to go looking for packages of cocaine that have been washing up on beaches in new south wales over the past week. officers have been searching a huge stretch of coastline after more than 260 pounds of plastic—wrapped packages containing the drug began to appear shortly before christmas. from sydney, phil mercer reports. before christmas, the first of these packages was discovered in the central coast region of new south wales, an hour or so to the north of sydney. and since then, many beaches between here and the port city of newcastle — that's about two hours�* drive to the north —

have been washed up, this cocaine washing up on those beaches in between the two cities. now, the police estimate that 124kg of cocaine has been found by members of the public and there is an overriding theory that this illicit haul was almost certainly strapped to a cargo vessel and was dislodged during wild seas, the aftermath of a tropical cyclone in queensland. so, certainly not the flotsam and jetsam that people on holiday or walking their dogs along the beach would expect to find here in sydney and further to the north, but a considerable amount of this class a drug has been discovered. this is not a time to be a freelance bounty hunter, according to australian authorities. they do believe that all of the drugs have now been recovered but they do caution that a single block of this illicit substance, weighing

a kilogram, if anyone is caught with that, potentially there is a prison term of between 25 years and life, so certainly, some harsh penalties for anyone involved in this particular trade, but the authorities believe that all of the drugs have now been washed up and recovered. phil mercer reporting from sydney. the president of burundi, evariste ndayishimiye, has said that gay people in his country should be stoned. speaking to journalists, the president also said his country would not bow to international pressure from powerful nations calling on african leaders to respect the rights of the lgbtq community. the burundian president is the latest leader on the continent to denounce homosexuality. same—sex relationships are illegal in burundi and punishable by up to two years in prison. a wrench was thrown in the new year's plans of thousands of eurostar passengers after the train system cancelled all of its services to and from london on saturday. a burst pipe feeding the fire

safety system was believed to be behind the disruption stranding travellers. eurostar said the issue has since been resolved and its train services linking london with paris, brussels and amsterdam will fully resume on sunday. the company said in a statement: the british actor tom wilkinson has died aged 75. he won a bafta for his portrayal of a steelworks foreman in the full monty. in total, mr wilkinson received six bafta nominations and two oscar nominations for the films michael clayton and in the bedroom. colin paterson looks back at his life. this was the role which changed

tom wilkinson's life forever. he was about to turn 50 when he was cast in the full monty as gerald, the former steel mill foreman, hiding his unemployment from his wife and turning to male stripping for money. # hot stuff! it won him a bafta while the full monty beat titanic to best film. suddenly, after a career almost entirely on tv, hollywood was calling. actors are ten a penny, and i, hugh finnerman, hold your nuts in my hand. the following year, he played a financier in shakespeare in love. it would win best picture at the oscars. american directors started to use him to add gravitas to theirfilms, with both his oscar nominations coming for roles in which he had an american accent. can't you find something? you know, like some piece of evidence? that happens. doesn't that happen? there was in the bedroom, playing a doctor whose son falls in love with an older woman.

you think you got the horses for that? well, good luck and god bless. and michael clayton, starring opposite george clooney as an attorney struggling with his mental health. indeed, many of his standout roles would be characters dealing with inner turmoil. there were also blockbusters... italian. and you look in the tabloids, mrwayne... ..christopher nolan casting him as gotham city mafia boss carmine falcone in the blockbuster batman begins. and for more than a decade, he has been a christmas tv staple... where are you going, little brown mouse? ..as the voice of the fox in the gruffalo. come and have lunch in my underground house. he once summed up his profession by saying, "all good actors are easy to work with. "it's the ones that aren't very good who tend "to be very difficult." tom wilkinson was very, very easy to work with. the british actor tom wilkinson, who has died at the

age of 75. it's been one year since the death of brazilian football legend pele. to commemorate the first anniversary of his passing, brazil's famous christ the redeemer statue has been given a temporary makeover, wearing a number 10 brazil football shirt in honour of pele, who died last year of cancer at the age of 82. the statue, which towers over rio dejaneiro, had an image of pele�*s jersey created by coloured lights projected onto it. the football superstar is considered a national treasure in brazil. pele scored a world record 1,281 goals and is the only player ever to win the world cup three times. and finally, a british army officer is believed to have become the fastest woman to ever complete a solo ski expedition, to the south pole. captain preet chandi or �*polar preet,�* as she's become known, covered the 1130 kilometres in a record time of just over 31 days. this was her third trip to the antarctic region and faced temperatures of minus 30 degrees celsius.

you're watching bbc news. i'm helena humphrey in washington, dc. thanks for your company. remember, there's always plenty more on our website bbc.com/news. i will see you again at the top of the hour. goodbye for now. hello. the weather's been continuing to cause some disruption through the final few days of 2023. we've had heavy rain, heavy snow across parts of scotland on saturday. for new year's eve on sunday, still some strong winds and heavy showers, especially in the south and the west. generally, a bit drier and less windy across the north—east of the uk, away from the northern isles — that is where we'll have this lingering weather front. but low pressure very much with us, drifting its way gradually eastwards, and there'll be a rash of showers rotating around that area of low pressure, blown in on these brisk west or south—westerly winds. so, the strongest of the winds probably for the south—west of england. the channel isles could be

gusting 60 miles an hour. similar for the northern isles, too. 50 mile per hour gusts possible through the davis straits, for instance. and plenty of those heavy showers really across southern and western parts of england, wales, northern ireland and south—west scotland. 6—10 degrees cooler than recent days. some drier conditions for central parts of scotland, perhaps the east of the pennines and in northern england as well. but if you're planning on heading out to see some fireworks new year's eve, let's look at what the weather is doing around about midnight. and there are still some showers across southern england and wales but they will, i think, tend to ease a little bit in frequency, so you may miss them. they are still blown in on these fairly brisk winds, though i think most of the showers will be across northern england, perhaps northern ireland as well and a few of them across the north—east of scotland, where they could be wintry, but some clearer and drier weather for central and western scotland as well. so, really, it's going to be a mixed picture around midnight with a scattering of showers almost anywhere. moving through into the early hours of monday, new year's day, and the winds will start to ease a little bit. for most of us, it'll be frost—free but some frost and some icy conditions, particularly if you've got that lying snow across the

north—east of scotland. new year's day itself, still some showers around but they're going to tend to ease for northern ireland, parts of southern scotland, northern england as well, so some drier, brighter, less windy weather for many of us. but heavy rain close to the south coast here just could push in for the likes of the isle of wight, perhaps sussex and kent, for instance, as well. and then, more persistent rain will rattle its way through later on monday into tuesday as well, so a spell of wetter weather, i think, later in the day and more of the same to come over the next week or so. it's still unsettled. further spells of rain. perhaps a little bit cooler and drier towards the end of next week. bye— bye.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. this is a present for you from the british library. that's amazing. i've just handed david tennant a new copy of a very old book. well, it is fascinating to see it all as it was. first published in 1623, shakespeare's first folio was 400 years old this year. to celebrate, the king and queen played host to an original copy and theatre's royalty, many of whom can thank the folio for their most memorable roles. attendees chatter will these hands

ne'er be clean? the collection of plays was put together by two of shakespeare's fellow actors seven years after his death. it includes 18 plays that had never been printed before. plays like 12th night... what kind of man is he? ..the tempest... our revels now are ended. ..julius caesar... friends, romans, countrymen... ..and macbeth. stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. these plays would all have been lost had it not been for the first folio. do you want me to do a clap? i am the bbc�*s culture editor, katie razzall, and i caught up with david during his rehearsals for macbeth and asked him about the role shakespeare's first folio has played in his life. the reason that shakespeare is the cultural colossus that he is is because that book was published. you know why we're here. it is 400 years since the first folio, and i wondered, as somebody steeped in shakespeare like you,

what does the first folio mean to you?