the us attorney general william barr, appointed by mrtrump, has said thejustice department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the presidential election. president trump's campaign says there hasn't been "any semblance of an investigation". three prominent pro—democracy activists have arrived for sentencing in hong kong. joshua wong, agnes chow and ivan lam have previously pleaded guilty to organising and taking part in an unauthorised assembly in june last year. they face up to three years injail. police in sweden say they have arrested a 70—year—old woman on suspicion of holding her son captive at home for up to 30 years. local media said the man now in his 40s had been taken out of school when he was 12. now on bbc news:

the firing line features the finalists and the winners of the rory peck awards. a warning: this programme contains images some viewers may find upsetting. some of the most powerful images of the year. often filmed in difficult and dangerous places. but who are the people who bring us these pictures? why do they do it? how do they do it? and what is the impact on them personally? each year, we step behind the camera and speak to the men and women who capture and bring us some of the most important news stories of our times. often under extremely difficult circumstances and great personal strain.

these freelance journalists are honoured through the rory peck awards, named after a british freelancer who was killed in moscow covering the october coup in 1993. his memory lives on through the rory peck trust, which works to support freelance journalists and their families worldwide. the films chosen by the judges cover this year's most topical stories, from the hong kong protests to the impact of the pandemic on communities and hospitals around the world. first up, the rory peck award for news, for films that capture the immediacy of a story. five years after the peaceful pro—democracy protests, known as the umbrella movement, a huge swathe of hong kong citizens were determined to stop the central government in beijing from further eroding the "one country, two systems" promise

it made in 1997. videojournalist raul gallego abellan was filming after a march in the city's district when a group of protesters hurled eggs and fragments of bricks at the local police station. hong kong society is not a society that were used to violent protests, so it was a very interesting moment where a group of youth that were used to studying, to playing games online, to have a peaceful life, suddenly they decided to be more aggressive and more defensive against riot police and the government. the film illustrates the frustration and anger of the demonstrators towards the police as the violence escalated. you have, like, two sides. you have the protesters, and on the other side as well you have a police that were not used to this kind of violence on the street.

so both sides little by little escalating, you know, first throwing tear gas, rubber bullets, then the protesters start to use petrol bombs and this was a test to see, ok, who is going to do the next step? police or protesters? thejudges said this was as much a piece of art as it was a piece of news. not classic news reporting, but a unique and powerful digital piece that left the viewer more able to connect with the issues that inspired it. in august 2019, the indian government revoked a bill which gave a state of jammu and kashmir autonomy for seven decades.

kashmir was put under complete lockdown with a total communication blackout. many kashmiris feared that their way of life was at risk. ahmer khan and siddharth bokolia footage captured the ensuing protests as civilians in the srinagar suburb of anchar engaged in a fight for existence. kashmir has gone through various political instabilities over the years, but i've seen among people that there is always a ray of hope. it is a faith that keeps them going, in my opinion. they were not ready to sit quietly about what was going on. they wanted to send a message to the world powers. determined to prevent indian government forces from entering their community, residents defied tear gas and pellets to protect the last remaining pocket of resistance in the country's only

muslim—majority state. people were not scared at all. in fact, they were out on night watches to protect the neighbourhood from the police raids. many of them had bad injuries but they were unable to get treated in the hospitals because the police used to raid the hospitals. the judges said that the vivid imagery captured the passion of the moment, and the intimate interview with the protester whose body was still riddled with pellets showed us the personal cost.

winner of the news award, guillermo galdos‘ film follows two venezuelan migrants in peru, picking up the bodies of covid—19 victims in the poorest neighbourhoods of lima. the two men arrived in the capital to escape the economic crisis in venezuela, but as they arrived in peru, the pandemic hit the country. when the virus hit peru, we only had 500 intensive care beds for a population of 32 million. the hospitals collapsed. so many people decided to try to pass the deceased at home, so that's why we had lots of people who died at home.

it was gruelling, dangerous work recovering bodies of covid—19 victims from homes and streets as the country struggled to combat the virus. guillermo captured the scale of the situation was captured at the crematorium. i never saw that amount of death in my life. when we arrived, it was pretty clear the crematorium was working at maximum. and the outside of the crematorium was full of coffins made out of cheap wood because there were not enough coffins in the city for the amount of dead people. this is the new normal, if you can afford it. the high—speed burial. only three family members can attend. it lasts just ten minutes. i was thinking, "0h, this is incredible, this is like an express funeral via the web," but those people there at the cemetery clearly were the lucky ones who were able to at least bury their loved ones because the majority of people, what happened was that bodies were being picked up from hospitals or from homes and they were taken to the ovens, to the crematorium and then, you know, two or three weeks later, you would receive in your house

a box with the ashes. thejudges said this is a breathtakingly up—close account. it takes us to the heart of the suffering and shows us the disturbingly mundane way in which death has to be managed during the covid—19 crisis. next, the rory peck award for news features, for films that looked beyond the immediacy of the news story. every day, thousands of ethiopians set off on foot on a desperate 2000 kilometre

trek in the hope of reaching saudi arabia, in search of employment and a better life. the route takes them across the djibouti desert, the red sea and yemen, a country ravaged by civil war. and every year, hundreds die of exhaustion in the desert or drown while crossing the gulf of aden. charles emptaz and olivier jobard followed the migrants on their treacherous journey. they want to go to saudi arabia because it's a rich country and there is always an example of a family who get richer by the money sent from the migrants. and even if there is a lot of bad stories of migrants who failed in their migration, the success story is always more appealing. during theirjourney, they often go without food for days on end and are easy prey to kidnappers.

speaking to the migrants and the traffickers, the film captures the desperation of those willing to risk their lives for a better way of life and the criminals who exploit them. for those who make it as far as yemen, living conditions are often no better or even worse than what they left behind. they're really living in the streets. they get a little money from begging in the street or washing the cars, but really it's a harsh condition for most of them. thejudges said this is a remarkable feat of enterprise and endeavour whereby the journalists covered an otherwise under—reported story alongside an awesome level of commitment where they put themselves at risk

for the film. in this film, localjournalist elijah ka nyi investigates the impact of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in mathare — one of kenya's largest and poorest slums. reporting from the coronavirus front—line and putting himself at risk, ka nyi found that the police brutality was worse than the virus. everywhere, the police mishandled their way of doing things. people kept on resisting, and they were resisting because the cops came to enforce their laws so that people can follow them

to save them from covid. but every time they did it wrong, people lost hope on their way of doing things and that's how things got out of hand. as the pandemic spread, heavy—handed policing led to violence and a series of tragic deaths, including that of a teenage boy. when yasim was killed, everything changed, even the mood of the community. and no—one would follow the rules that were given

for them to be safe from covid. people were angry, people were mad, people didn't want to be told anything to do with covid any more. having been born and bred in mathare, kanyi has a strong connection with the place and was able to show the desperate situation the locals found themselves in, with compassion and sensitivity. since we started filming, there has been no case of coronavirus in mathare, but so far, three people have been killed. thejudges said that when everyone is looking for covid stories in africa, kanyi was smart to find a fresh angle that would also highlight a local issue. ramon campos and alejandro bernal‘s unique winning film tells the story of a farming population known as the peace community of sanjose de apartado,

in colombia's northwest uraba mountains. led by german graciano, the community has lived in the midst of conflict for nearly 20 years. bernal and campos gained the trust of the community, giving them a voice to alert the world to their plight. the story represents what many people in colombian rural areas are living right now. pa ramilita ry violence is spreading, so we wanted to portray the peace community. we wanted to show their work and their courage in standing against this violence. in memory of the fallen,

german leads his people — including the elderly, women and children — through the mountainous region to pay their respects to their slain community members. it's a riskyjourney they've chosen to embark on as an act of defiance against a local right—wing paramilitary group. the community's fighting for dignity. it's about not having to run away from their land. to stay and work their land. of course, they know that they live beside their enemy, but they don't live with fear. they live with dignity. since the landmark peace agreement between the colombian government and the farc rebels in 2016, more than 700 social leaders have been reported killed across the country. german is hopeful for the future, even though he knows that the paramilitaries are probably

going to kill him, but he knows that if he dies, there's another one that can take his position and lead the community. so it's a sad story, but it's also full of hope. thejudges said this is an extremely relevant film in a time when the peace process in colombia is at risk of unravelling. it's quiet and unassuming, yet incredibly compelling, and the film—makers manage to get under the skin of the story. and finally, the sony impact award for current affairs — for films that really examine the issues and have impact.

james jones and olivier sarbil‘s film captures president duterte's bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the philippines. jones and sarbil first arrived in 2017, at a time when even duterte had had to restrain his police after the public outcry over the killing of a teenager in caloocan. after meeting the new police chief, colonel modequillo, they managed to persuade him to open his doors to filming. immediately it became clear that his ego and vanity would get the better of him, and he just loved the idea we 'd flown halfway

across the world to make a film about him. so from then on, basically the doors of the caloocan police were thrown open to us. over the course of six months, jones and sarbil spent weeks on end with a swat team, the secretive special operations unit within the notoriously overcrowded prisons. on top of the horrific physical conditions, the jail warden was a bully and a tormentor and he would dish out punishments, you know, like beating them with a wooden stick. and i think, you know, the whole system showed that they stopped seeing drug suspects as human. jones and sarbil managed to gain the trust of octavio deimos, head of the swat team.

so much so that he admitted off—camera that the police force could have been behind many of the vigilante killings. the judges said that this is a film alerting the world to duterte's human rights abuses. this is a visually amazing documentary shot with tension and urgency that plunges the viewers into the very heart of manila's murderous war against drugs.

with unique access into the battle for hong kong, fai wan and robin barnwell‘s film follows five demonstrators through the most intense clashes over several months of pro—democracy protests. we believe that our future should be decided by ourselves. the film examines their struggle against what they say is growing influence from the communist government of mainland china. they're very concerned that they will be living in a china, an authoritarian china, where they're unable to access an open internet, where they‘ re unable to obviously decide their futures, elect their leaders, have a rule of law which they trust and respect. and also have the right to protest. so these are big concerns for them about the future of the place that they love and are passionate about, hong kong.

the majority of the demonstrations were peaceful, but as police started firing tear gas into the crowds, the situation became violent. this resulted in fierce clashes between police and the demonstrators. momo was really interesting because her boyfriend was a policeman and he was actually on the front line of the protests on the other side from her, and so she was going through a very, very difficult time in her life where she was sort of fighting for a cause that she believed in, but also had this very tricky relationship at home. but she was really determined, and it was fascinating seeing somebody who basically had never been involved in protests in her life and suddenly over the matter of a course of weeks and months, having her whole life turned upside down and totally transformed, and we sort of watched her go through some of that process.

the judges said that this is a compelling account of some of the most intense clashes the city has ever seen and their impact on five lives that are changed forever. winner of the sony impact award, sasha joelle achilli's film gives an unprecedented insight into three months on the covid—19front—line with a&e doctor

francesca mangiatordi. francesca worked gruelling 12—hour shifts, caring for the vulnerable who had been most affected by the virus. due to the lack of life—saving equipment, she faced the traumatising task of prioritising which lives to try to save. they had been receiving an increasing number of patients since late february and they had found themselves in a situation in which the hallways were full of patients, patients had to wait for hours, if not a couple of days, to be able to find a bed. the entire hospital had been turned into a covid hospital.

a month into the outbreak, doctor mangiatordi and her colleagues noticed a disturbing new trend. it was notjust the old and vulnerable who were getting ill. 18—year—old mattia was taken to hospital fighting for his life. since his mother could not visit, the doctors and nurses adopted him almost as their own son. when mattia had the phone call with his mother, i was so nervous. he had just woken up, and ten days of his life completely gone by. when i saw the emotion on his face and i saw how happy and moved the nurses were, i was crying behind the camera. and so i would say it's my worst camera work because i was shaking and i was crying, and at the same time it's probably the strongest scene in the film.

the judges said that this film was a powerful tale of love, family and professional dedication recording an ongoing historical moment with so much precision, empathy and sensitivity.

that's it for this year's edition of the firing line, which featured the finalists and the winning entries of the 2020 rory peck awards. goodbye. hello there. we are into meteorological winter now and with a wintry for the rest of the week. this cold front will bring cold arctic air mass moving southwards right across the country. it will be seeking southwards unease with across england and wales through today. a stability to rain in it but this guys will tend to be cloudy here. much brighter sky spider, sunshine and blustery showers in scotland and northern ireland. gale is in the north—west and they shall at increasingly wintry over the higher ground here. as we have a wednesday night, it stays very showery across the north of the country, hume

leading snow over the scottish hills, moving down to lower levels as well. an area of more organised rain was to push into england and wales with some strong winds later in the night so strong winds later in the night so he not quite as cold as well as further north with the showers, snow and clear spells. a big area of low pressure with us a big area of low pressure with us and prefers than friday, going to bring areas of rain and strong winds. it is going to feel cold both days and we might see some hills know not of the north but even in the south with some sleep at lower levels too.

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: one of donald trump's closest allies, the us attorney general, says he's found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the presidential election. three of hong kong's most high profile pro—democracy activists will be sentenced later for their involvement in the 2019 protest movement. a woman has been arrested in sweden, suspected of holding her son captive in her flat for up to 30 years. china's lunar probe successfully lands on moon in an historic mission to collect the first rock samples in more than a0 years. and — south korea passes ‘bts‘ law allowing k—pop megastars