this is bbc news — i'm nancy kacungira with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a meeting of minds ahead of the winter olympics — china's president xi backs his russian counterpart in opposing the expansion of nato. the games open officially in beijing — amid chinese pride and international controversy. downing street insists boris johnson is still in control — after another conservative mp calls on him to go — and a fifth senior adviser resigns. as tensions in ukraine continue, we have a special report from its eastern region that's for years suffered loss of life on the front line with russia.

emergency workers are hopeful of reaching a five—year—old boy who has been trapped for four daysin who has been trapped for four days in a deep well. queen elizabeth marks her platinum jubilee, viewing some cards and gifts celebrating her 70 years as monarch. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. china and russia have announced a new partnership hailed by president putin as an unprecedented pact of cooperation. china says it will back russia's foreign policy aims and says it supports russia's demands that nato halted its expansion. the president of china and vladimir putin held talks hours before the official opening of the winter olympics in beijing with

a low—key ceremony held amid concerns about the covid and a diplomatic boycott over human rights abuses. china's capital city, an olympic host for the second time. the bird's nest stadium built for 2008 was still glorious. china! but there's a different man in charge now and it feels very different in 2022. xijinping promised a safe, efficient games. it we are being moved away from this area at the moment. not because there aren't enough tickets on sale, there no tickets on sale, there no tickets on sale to members of the general public. that's part of those extreme covid restrictions. "i came to feel the vibe," this woman told us. standing at her side, his son asked, "can we see it or not,

mum? " it doesn't matter, she said, we'rejust trying. the athletes, just getting here —— for the athletes, just getting here is a lifetime achievement. but their leaders have stayed away. britain, like australia, and around a dozen others, hasjoined a us—led diplomatic boycott — a protest over what they claim is egregious abuse, or even genocide, carried out by china against muslim minorities here. but this leader was here. in fact, he was the star guest. a russia's president putin is one of 20 or so presidents, prime ministers, or kings who are keen to show their support for china in person. but mr putin came for more — face—to—face talks, and he's agreed trade and energy deals, and a new friendship of closer cooperation with china. they used to share communist rule. now what binds russia and china is concern about resurgent us influence, as tension over ukraine increases by the day.

the moment the olympic flame was installed was a subtle one. no big cauldron set alight. but not so the other message sent out by the hosts from this stadium, that china and russia are forging a new, much closer relationship. robin brant, bbc news, beijing. he was explaining the geopolitical importance of the relationship between the two leaders. i relationship between the two leaders. ~ �* , , leaders. i think it's very important _ leaders. i think it's very important for _ leaders. i think it's very important for global- leaders. i think it's very - important for global politics because pollutant over the last several years their personal ties but they say —— state to state ties with the common adversary being the united states and the broader west that seems poised against them from their perspective. what i think we saw over the last day here with putin travelling to beijing to meet with the chinese president for the opening of the olympics was a very, very much kind of symbolic event to demonstrate that these two authoritarian leaders continue to deepen their ties to try to make the

world safer authoritarianism worldwide.— world safer authoritarianism worldwide. just how well this cominu worldwide. just how well this coming together _ worldwide. just how well this coming together be - worldwide. just how well this coming together be viewed i worldwide. just how well this | coming together be viewed by the nato allies for instance, and other western powers. i think it's very interesting to note that putin released a joint statement, the russian version and talks about how china and russia are aligned on the need to stop nato in large demands, but the chinese variation of that statement did not mention nato and didn't mention ukraine either. there may be kind of a different stare in terms of beijing versus moscow's perspective, but on the hall, china certainly supports russia to handle affairs within its sphere of influence, quote unquote, the post—soviet space, central asia and eastern europe, specifically so long as moscow respect�*s beijing ability to do what it wants

with its sphere of influence, east and southeast asia. i did mentioned the careful wording from china there, china also enjoys a close relationship with ukraine. could a situation emerge where it will have to choose between ukraine and russia? i don't think so. i think it's pretty clear from chinese foreign minister, the russian and chinese foreign ministries are actively coordinating their ukraine policy and to beijing expressed understanding and support for moscow's position and i think that if russia, god forbid, does wind up invading ukraine, ithink does wind up invading ukraine, i think you will get at a minimum rhetorical supports from china and sort of on the higher end, abstention or even vetoing resolutions that come forward as the un security council. now, china does have a unique opportunity here because it is very close friends of

russia, but as you mentioned, a good relationship with ukraine, made it to be able to take on the role of peaceful negotiator, that is a bit? i don't know that beijing wants to necessarily open that can of worms, but i think it has a unique opportunity to do so. i was speaking there to derek grossman, defence analyst. here in the uk, downing street insists that the prime minister is still in control after another resignation from boris johnson's team. within the past couple of hours, the former minister has added his voice to those calling on the prime minister to resign as well as being under pressure with the lockdown parties in downing street. mrjohnson has come in for a particular criticism over a fourth claim as false claim that the labour leader had failed to prosecute the child sex offender when he was director of public. 0ur political correspondent reports.

this is the man who won the conservatives an 80—seat majorityjust two years ago. but now some of boris johnson's own mps want him out of number 10. they say he's lost voters' trust and that he's losing his grip. she's a fighter and a quitter. elena narozanski has represented england at boxing. today she dealt the prime minister a blow by resigning from his policy unit. she's a close ally of munira mirza, the number 10 policy chief who was one of four stuff to resign yesterday. her departure was seen as the most significant, as she had been one of borisjohnson�*s closest aides. she said she resigned when he refused to apologise for his false claims about keir starmer when he was director of public prosecutions. and today, you couldn't mask the difference in tone between the prime minister and the health secretary. keir starmer, when he was running the dpp, did a good job and he should be respected for it.

it's a toughjob, and he deserves absolute respect for that. but the prime minister has also come out and clarified those remarks. although some of the downing street resignations were unforeseen, ministers were putting on a brave face. the people who are going are very distinguished public servants who've done an enormous amount to help, but the prime minister wanted change and he said that there would be change, and we're seeing that change now. but remaining staff in downing street attended another gathering today, a pep talk from the prime minister. i'm told he quoted from the lion king, saying "change is good". but some sceptical mps suggested that either the prime minister himself would need to change, or they might need to change the prime minister. we want this to work, but i think, for myself, i'm deeply troubled by what's going on, and we all know that if a prime minister doesn't ship up then they have to shape out, and that's exactly what happened when this prime minister took over. and tonight, another mp, aaron bell, confirmed he'd submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, saying the breach of trust makes his position untenable. for some conservative

mps, it's not a matter of if but when they'll call for a vote of no confidence in borisjohnson. it takes only 5a of them to trigger that vote, but 180 to win it. so some of the prime minister's long—standing critics are a bit wary about rushing in, because under the party's rules, if they fail to oust borisjohnson, then he can't be challenged for another year. so in politics, as in comedy, timing is everything. borisjohnson�*s next—door neighbour, rishi sunak, has distanced himself from the downing street gatherings and the prime minister's comments about keir starmer, but this has provoked accusations of disloyalty from some mps, who believe the ground is being prepared for a leadership bid. borisjohnson has now written to all his mps, promising to work more closely with them and declaring "we will deliver together". but at the end of another difficult week, unity is far from guaranteed. let's get some of the day's

other news. five people had been killed by an avalanche in the austrian state. they say the austrian state. they say the victims were buried close to the border of switzerland, a six person, an injured woman has been evacuated to hospital. the nationality of those involved is yet clear. two republican members of us congress have repeatedly condemned last year's storming of the capitol building has been censured by their own party. liz cheney and adam ken's anger are involved in the official inquiry into the attack by donald trump supporters. the republican party's governing body accused a pair of helping to persecute people engaged in legitimate political discourse. the media giant says it was attacked last month by hackers who are seeking to gather information to benefit china. the company owned by rupert murdoch said the breach affected various operations around the world, security company that responded to the breach has been quoted

as saying that hackers had chinese links. scientists in south africa have made a copy of the maternal covid—i9 jab, research in cape town used publicly available information to produce the vaccine with clinical trials expected to begin in november. it's a breakthrough in africa which has the lowest uptake of covid shots in the world. as heard earlier, a possible invasion is international concern, the communities in the east of the contract had to endure a conflict for years. some 14,000 people have been killed, soldiers as well as civilians and despite an official cease—fire, the debts continued. a conflict broke out eight years ago when russia annexed ukraine's crimea peninsula. then, russian backed separatists seized parts of eastern ukraine which is home to many ethnic russians. 0ur international correspondent reports from the city. 0ne

family and their loss. bugle plays. it was a funeral for a hero, a fallen soldier in the war ukraine is already fighting. valery herovkin was just 22. he was killed on the front line in december by russian—backed separatists. mourned by loved ones and by his home town, kramatorsk. his mother, ana, is consoled by one of his brothers in arms who was standing right beside valery when the sniper�*s bullet pierced his helmet. buttressed by her husband, yevgeny. ana remembers their eldest son, a boy who was funny, kind, a bit naughty, who grew up to love football

and defend his homeland. translation: of course - we didn't expect it was going to turn out this way, but i'm proud of my son because he gave his life for his country. he gave his life for ukraine. for the people. and for his family. that's why i'm so proud of my boy. valery made this video just weeks before his death. the song says, my heart aches. i don't believe you're gone. his father, a pastor, wonders if somehow he sensed what was coming. translation: sometimes

i feel that perhaps - he was expecting to die. because he spent the last two days of his holiday with us, and he made that video. when he was boarding the bus, he said, i have a heavy heart. i don't want to leave. but i said, son, you have to. you made the decision. so you have to go. now they mourn and worry. their city was shelled in 2015. they fear a new phase of war would dwarf the suffering so far. but for them, the worst has already happened. a beloved son is gone. orla guerin, bbc news, kramatorsk, ukraine. you are watching bbc news. our

headlines... the president of china and russia meet ahead of the winter olympics opening ceremony. president of china backstretch and opposing the expansion of nato. downing street insists borisjohnson is still in control after another conservative mp causing him to go. at that senior adviser resigns. now, emergency workers in morocco are hopeful they will soon reach a five—year—old boy who has been trapped for four days in a deep well. the child whose name is ryan had felt more than 30 metres into the shaft, this is while his father was repairing it. the shaft is narrow, the rescuers are digging a large hole parallel to it to try and reach the boy.

this footage from a camera lowered into the well show rayan covered in earth, with little room to move. he has been trapped like this for three days. above him, a complex rescue operation is under way. it has been going on since tuesday night, when rayan fell 32 metres down this narrow opening. for the five—year—old's family, the wait is agonising. translation: i ask all moroccans to please i pray for him, he really needs your prayers. translation: rayan is very much loved here in the village, - notjust at home. imiss him. an oxygen mask, food and water have been lowered into the well. whether the little boy has drunk or eaten is not known. early attempts to reach him through the well�*s opening failed because of the narrowness of the hole's diameter. since then, rescuers have been working through the night to extract the ground next to the boy. once at his level, they hope to create an opening. after days of digging, there are just metres to go, but there is the risk of a landslide. translation: considerable efforts have been deployedl by local authorities and all participating bodies

to accelerate the process and rescue the child, rayan, as soon as possible. the only solution remains to use bulldozers in order to make a hole to extract the child as soon as possible. this is an extremely delicate operation. rescuers, though, are hopeful that soon they will be able to free rayan and return the little boy to his family. helen wilkinson, bbc news. mehta has announced a new feature to tackle harassment in the meta— verse. the feature will create more personal space and virtual reality world by preventing avatars from coming within certain distance of each other and making it easier to avoid unwanted interactions. mehta has long been under scrutiny from global lawmakers and regulators over its handling of problematic content and facebook and instagram.

this sunday, the queen will become the first british monarch to celebrate platinum jubilee marking a 70 year reign. today marks the anniversary of the death of her father, george vi and her accession to the throne. our royal correspondent reports. the letters, the newest one. she's nearly 96 now, not quite as robust physically as before. a monarch looking back over 70 years and three previousjubilees. simple, but ingenious. they've been decades during which she's given much, but one thing above all. stability in times of war and peace, in times of social calm and social disruption. stability in times of pandemic. and increasingly, across the world, she has become, i think, a world symbol of stability and strength. and according to the archbishop of canterbury, she has provided

leadership by example. at the funeral of her husband of 70—something years, she sat alone. that was leadership. it was doing the right thing, it was duty. it set an example. from the earliest moments of her reign, doing the right thing has been instinctive. for all the grandeur of her position, she's understood that respect has to be earned. her ultimate quality has been humility. i think the most successful royals nowadays are the humble ones who understand that they're part of something bigger than them. archive: her majesty moves to king edward's chair, - over which a splendid canopy... elizabeth's reign began

the moment her father died, but it was at the coronation when she sat on king edward's throne, that she became the anointed sovereign, set apart on the path of duty for the remainder of her life. the britain to whose throne elizabeth ascended, on that february day in 1952, was a very different country to the one of today. yet britain's core, then as now, was the monarchy. and the young woman who was crowned on this ancient throne has done her utmost to uphold both, crown and country. you'd never have said in �*52 that in 70 years, the monarchy would actually be, in many ways, more successful and more of a centre of national attention than ever. and the fact that it is, i think, is down to her. the past year has been difficult for her. there has been personal sadness and family pain. now, a milestone no other british monarch has achieved. by most, she is loved.

by almost all of the rest, she is profoundly respected. and around the world, she has lived a life that has made a difference. nicholas witchell, bbc news. now, to what is called the world's most unreachable shipwreck, a century ago, the enduring saying, he crushed by ice after being charted by the anglo—irish explorer for an expedition to cross antarctica. the crew were left stranded for months but all of them survived. now scientists hope that the same icy conditions that the same icy conditions that trapped about may have preserved it. they've sent a team using the latest tech to try to find the rack. our science editor reports. the

final moments of the endurance. this 100—year—old footage restored and released by the bfi, shows sir ernest shackleton�*s famous ship as it was lost to the antarctic ice. there's the endurance. now a new expedition is attempting to locate the ship. the endurance is the... the most unreachable wreck in the world, and the big challenge is the ice. it's opening, it's clenching. it's a really vicious, lethal environment. this was shackleton�*s third expedition to antarctica. endurance set off from south georgia in december 1914, but it was a bad year for sea ice and by mid—january, the ship had become frozen fast. it drifted for months with the crew on board, but eventually, an order was given to abandon the ship after it became crushed by the weight of the ice. endurance finally sank on the 21st of november 1915.

its exact location, though, was recorded, and this is where the search will begin. the agulhas ii is the icebreaker taking on that challenge. underwater robots kitted out with sonar and cameras will hunt for the wreck 3000 metres down. the hope is it's well preserved by the icy water. shackleton�*s expedition diary was saved before the endurance sank. "she went today. 5pm. she went down by the head. the stern, the cause of all the trouble, was the last to go underwater. i cannot write about it." you can read about how it was creaking. they talk to her, talk about her as a personality. there's this real kind of sense of how crushed they were when the ship was crushed and sank as well. the endurance crew travelled for hundreds of miles to get to safety. miraculously, they all survived.

but the ship that had been their home is still silently waiting to be discovered. rebecca morelle, bbc news. over the next few days, we are going to see a lot of athletes competing against each other at the winter olympics, but take a look at this. this is a retired kayaking champion in mexico, but now that he's no longer competing against others, he's decided to kayak for the benefit of his community. every morning, he peddles along the river in mexico city and picks up river in mexico city and picks up any trash he finds floating on the water. he says he hopes his efforts will make a difference in preserving this place for future generations. a champion in more ways than one. here is a reminder of our top story... the presidents of china and russia have announced that they are to cooperate more of her military and security issues. vladimir putin and the president of china suggested that they were opposed to the

expansion of nato. that's all for now. you can find me on twitter but do stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. snow was a feature of the weather for some parts of the uk on friday, and it continues to feature as part of what is actually quite a varied weekend weather menu. snow and ice continuing to be an issue particularly in scotland. elsewhere, some rain at times, some brisk winds also some spells of sunshine. the big weather maker for the weekend is this weather front extending all the way from north america across the atlantic towards our shores. this front will bring some outbreaks of rain. there will be some strong winds, but also this front dividing cold air, which will be returning from the north from this mild air, staging a temporary come back down towards the south. this is how saturday shapes up a touch of frost for some to start off.

a dry start for much of england and wales, you can see this wet weather on the move southwards as the day wears on, some particularly heavy bursts of rain developing over hills in the west. the south of england likely to stay dry for a good part of the day, northern scotland brightening up with some increasingly frequent snow showers, and a windy day for all, those are the gusts. gusts of 40—60 mph in exposed places in northern scotland. afternoon temperatures, quite a range, three there for stornoway, 10 for london, plymouth and saint hellier. through saturday night, our weather front continues to journey southwards across northern ireland, it will cling on for a good part of the night, i think. certainly some wet weather crossing england and wales. for scotland, frequent snow showers, we could see up to 15 cm of snow accumulating over high ground. a mild night in the south, a colder one further north, and then we look ahead to sunday. well, this rain could well drag its heels and turn heavy for a time on sunday morning. it may struggle to clear the south of england, but elsewhere, we should see some spells of sunshine through the day, showers continuing, snow showers across high ground in scotland, but those showers even wintry to quite low levels.

strongest winds at this stage could be down towards the south with gales likely through the channel. and temperature again quite a range, four in the north, nine or ten further south, maybe 11 for the channel islands. now, as we head into the start of the new week, an area of high pressure not too far away, trying to build its way northwards, a weak frontal system but it is a warm front, so that will bring some milder air returning from the west, so quite a mild start to the new week. we will see some rain at times, but particularly the further south you are, the week should start on a mostly dry note.

this is bbc news with me, nancy kacungira. our latest headlines. ahead of the opening ceremony of the winter olympics, china's president, xijinping, met his russian counterpart vladimir putin and gave his support to moscow's security and foreign policy aims. the official opening — at the bird's nest stadium in beijing — was toned—down, due to covid restrictions. downing street insists boris johnson is still in control, after another conservative mp called on the prime minister to step down. the former minister, nick gibb, says that his constituents remain furious about what he called double standards in the observance of covid rules. emergency workers in morocco say they're hopeful that they'll reach a five—year—old boy trapped for four days in a deep well. the child, who's called rayan, slid more than 30 metres into the narrow shaft on tuesday while his father was repairing it. now on bbc news, it's

time for the media show.