welcome to bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories: 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. emergency workers in morocco so they are hopeful they will reach a five—year—old boy trapped for four days in a deep well. the child with more than 30 metres into a narrow shaft on tuesday while his father was repairing it.

china and russia have announced a new partnership, hailed by president putin as an unprecedented pact of cooperation. china says it'll back russia's foreign policy aims and says it supports russian demand that nato halt its expansion. xijinping and vladimir putin held talks hours before the official opening of the winter olympics in beijing, with the low—key ceremony held amid concerns about covid and a diplomatic boycott over human rights abuses. from beijing, robin brant reports. china's capital city, an olympic host for the second time. the bird's nest stadium built for 2008 is still glorious. but there is a different man in charge now and it feels very different in 2022. xijinping promised a safe, efficient games. for most people in beijing tonight, this is the closest they're gonna get to the opening ceremony of the olympic games — watching it on a roadside near the stadium or on a walkway over the motorway. we're actually being moved away

from this area at the moment. now, it's because there are not enough tickets on sale, there are 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, her son asked, "can we see it or not, mum?" "it doesn't matter," she said, "at least we are trying." 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. 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 has 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 resurgence 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 host from this stadium — that china and russia are forging a new, much closerfriendship. robin brant, bbc news, beijing. let's get some of the day's other news. the death toll from the covid—19 pandemic —— the death toll from the covid—19 pandemic in the united states surpassed 900,000 on friday, according to thejohns hopkins university coronavirus tracker. new cases linked to the 0micron variant are falling but daily deaths continue to rise, with an average of 2,400. currently, only 64% of the population are fully immunised — that's despite highly effective vaccines being widely available.

five people have been killed by an avalanche in the austrian state of tirol. —— state of tyrol. rescuers say the victims were buried under snow near spiss, close to the border with switzerland. a sixth person, an injured woman, has been evacuated to hospital. the nationality of those involved isn't yet clear. the media giant news corp says it was attacked by hackers last month. the company, owned by rupert murdoch, said the breach was done by someone seeking to gather information to benefit china. some e—mail accounts and documents from its business divisions were affected, but no customer and financial data appears to have been impacted. france's fisheries minister has called for an inquiry after a spillage of more than 100,000 dead fish off the country's atlantic coast. video footage filmed by environmental activists shows a mass of corpses floating on the sea surface. the incident occurred when a net belonging to margiris, the world's second—largest supertrawler, broke.

as the us republican national committee censured two republicans critical of donald trump, his former vice president mike pence took on his old boss, saying he was wrong to claim he could have overturned the 2020 election. mr pence said no one person could choose the president. president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election. the presidency belongs to the american people and the american people alone and, frankly, there is no idea more un—american than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. i've been speaking to our north america correspondent, david willis. mike pence, of course, was one of the most loyal vice presidents you could everfind. he was renowned for his almost filial loyalty to donald trump, defending mr trump even in some of his most controversial moments, so these remarks are being seen — being granted with some astonishment here.

they are the most outspoken criticism of his former boss to have come from mike pence. but in the last few days, donald trump has basically ground down on the narrative that mike pence could have done more to basically prevent the election from going to joe biden. he said he could have overturned the results of the electoral college. now, that is, of course, false. and today, mike pence decided to call donald trump out on that, saying that mr trump was wrong in that assertion and also saying that such a move by a vice president would be, as he put it, "un—american". this comes, though, at the same time — as i alluded to there, david — the republican party censuring two of its top lawmakers for investigating the capitol riot. what did they call it? "legitimate political discourse", which liz cheney and adam kinzinger would disagree with. so, i mean, what does it tell us about the republican party

and perhaps going forward, 2024, the next presidential race? well, this all points to the fact that the events of january sixth are deeply controversial still, as far as the republican party is concerned, and as you mentioned, the party decided today to censure liz cheney and adam kinzingerfor basicallyjoining the committee looking into the events of that fateful day. they believe that no republicans should have joined the committee and that it will basically lead to a witch—hunt that will ultimately end up with donald trump being accused of more things. now, they also said — the members of the committee today — that this constituted, as they put it, "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse". now, adam kinzinger has already said that he will be leaving congress before his term is up and liz cheney could face some

sort of challenge for her seat in wyoming. now, she issued a statement today, saying that republican leaders had, as she put it, "made themselves willing "hostages to a man who admits attempting to overthrow "a presidential election" — a none—too—concealed barb there against donald trump, of course. and i do not know if it is possible to know this, david, butt that phrase, you know, "legitimate political —— david, but that phrase, you know, "legitimate political discourse" — i mean, will many, you know, republicans maybe that supported mr trump, maybe that didn't, would they take on with that description that the rnc is putting forward? well, it's interesting because mike pence today, in that speech, also called the sixth of january "a dark "day in the history of the us capitol" and he was one of the lawmakers, of course, that was rushed to safety after the capitol building came under siege from a mob of donald trump supporters —

some of whom are, of course, were calling for the vice president to be hanged. now, there is a large feeling in the party — amongst some, anyway — that these were terrible events and that this was something that the party really should seek to bury and move on from. there are others, of course, like liz cheney, who believe that there should be some sort of reckoning as a result of this. thank you very much to david willis. emergency workers in morocco are hopeful they'll soon reach a five—year—old boy who's been trapped for four days in a deep well. the child, named rayan, fell more than 30m into the shaft while his father was repairing it. the shaft is narrow, so rescuers are digging a large hole parallel to it to reach the boy, as helena wilkinson reports. this footage from a camera lowered into the well shows rayan covered in earth with little room to move. he's been trapped like this for three days.

above him, a complex rescue operation is under way. it's been going on since tuesday night, when rayan fell 32m 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. rayan is the son of all moroccans. translation: rayan is very i 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 drank or eaten isn't 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. helena wilkinson, bbc news. people keep across that in coming hours. —— we will keep across that in coming hours. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: looking for a shipwreck in the furthest frozen ocean: we report on the search for the legendary exploration vessel endurance. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile,

the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. mission control: three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment — the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo around the world non—stop. .

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the presidents of china and russia meet ahead of the winter olympics opening ceremony. president xi backs russia in opposing the expansion of nato. mike pence criticises donald trump for saying the ex—us vice president could have overturned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. let's get more now on our main story. we can now speak to angela stent, a former us national intelligence officer for russia and eurasia, and senior non—resident fellow at the brookings institution. to have you with us, angela. let's talk little bit about where we are now, especially with this meeting between ukraine, between russia and china in the middle of this ukrainian crisis. how significant do you see

president xi and president putin meeting in this way? i think today was really an inflection point. you have this detailed 18 page statement setting out russia and china's strategic partnership, saying that they are better than allies, pushing back at the west, saying the west has no right to tell them what to do, and you have the chinese explicitly endorsing the russian demands that nato never enlarge and of course russia confirming its view that, of the one china policy. and so there was a lot of detail may also —— they also lashed out against the aukus alliance, the united states, great britain and australia, and the west's whole indo pacific strategy. it is interesting, a lot of the country they are lashing out at other ones that boycotted the olympics diplomatically due to human rights abuses in china. but if it is a new era, which i

think you are outlining there, when it comes to these strategic alliances, what does it really mean, do you think, when it comes to, for example, ukraine? i when it comes to, for example, ukraine? ~' ., , ., ukraine? i think it means that althou:h ukraine? i think it means that although i _ ukraine? i think it means that although i believe _ ukraine? i think it means that although i believe the - ukraine? i think it means thatj although i believe the chinese would prefer the russians not to have a military incursion into ukraine, if russia does conduct some military actions against ukraine, the chinese will back them up. just as they did in 2014 when the russians took crimea, even though the chinese won't that happy about it. so putin knows that xi will come to his assistance, and will support him in whatever he does, and if there are reasons for there to be a military incursion and massive sanctions were imposed on russia, the chinese will help bail the russians out financially and in other ways. 50 russians out financially and in other ways-— other ways. so do you think if there is the _ other ways. so do you think if there is the strategic - other ways. so do you think if there is the strategic alliance | there is the strategic alliance between china and russia, it influenced in any way nato

excepting ukraine as a member of the nato alliance? i excepting ukraine as a member of the nato alliance?— of the nato alliance? i don't thinkthat — of the nato alliance? i don't think that is _ of the nato alliance? i don't think that is going _ of the nato alliance? i don't think that is going to - of the nato alliance? i don't think that is going to affectl think that is going to affect what nato does. nato cosmic policy is that there is an open door and they are not going to change it. but nato is beginning to realise that as well as, in addition to having to take on russia, they are now taking on a much closer russian — chinese relationship, and a china that is going to back rusher up, so it means that it is more, if you like, stress on the nato alliance that does make as they look at the challenges they face. let's fli- to challenges they face. let's flip to another _ challenges they face. let's flip to another part - challenges they face. let's flip to another part of- challenges they face. let's flip to another part of the l flip to another part of the world, because if china is scratching russia's back so to speak, vice—versa would also happen. with somewhere like taiwan for example, if we start talking about one china policy, what would you expect there? i think the nightmare scenario for the us and its allies would be if we had a russian military incursion into ukraine, and then china moved on taiwan. the

china experts say that isn't that likely, but it does mean that likely, but it does mean that whatever moves china makes on taiwan, russia would presumably back it up. interestingly, the russians haven't been explicit about their views about china and the south china sea which is another issue, but i think that on taiwan, they would back the chinese up. 50 on taiwan, they would back the chinese oo— on taiwan, they would back the chinese no— chinese up. so what do you think somebody _ chinese up. so what do you think somebody like - chinese up. so what do you think somebody like us - think somebody like us presidentjoe biden needs to do now, strategically? i president joe biden needs to do now, strategically?— now, strategically? i mean, note that — now, strategically? i mean, note that this _ now, strategically? i mean, note that this chinese- - now, strategically? i mean, - note that this chinese- russian note that this chinese— russian partnership has really been solidified, but continue the process of trying to have a diplomatic solution to the ukraine crisis, talks are still going on, even as the military buildup continues as well, and then find a way to deal with china too. of course the biden administration wanted the focus to be on china but it is now able to do that —— not been able to do that —— not been able to do that —— not been able to do that in the past few months because of all the

challenges coming from russia. thank you angela forjoining us on bbc news. as we heard earlier, a possible russian invasion of ukraine is a top international concern — but communities in the east of the country have had to endure a conflict for years. some 14,000 people have been killed — soldiers and civilians. and despite an official ceasefire, the deaths continue. the 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. our international correspondent orla guerin reports from the city of kramatorsk on one family and their loss. bugle plays the last post. it was a funeral for a hero. a fallen soldier in the war ukraine is already fighting. valery hierovkin 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, anna, 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, anna 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, i 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, ifeel 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. meta has announced a new feature to tackle harassment in the metaverse. the feature will create more personal space in virtual reality world by preventing avatars from coming within a certain distance of each other and by making it easier to avoid unwanted interactions. meta has long been under scrutiny from global lawmakers and regulators over its handling of problematic content and abuses on its existing social media platforms, such as facebook and instagram. following the massive oil spill in peru last month,

vets are nursing a number of rare humboldt penguins back to health. 12,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a marine biodiversity hotspot after a refinery was hit by waves linked to a volcanic eruption on tonga. zoologists say many of the penguins arrived at lima zoo very stressed. the penguins have been bathed, watered and fed to aid their recovery. the government has called the oil spill the country's worst ecological disaster. it's called the world's most unreachable shipwreck. a century ago the endurance sank, crushed by ice after being chartered by the anglo—irish explorer ernest shackleton for an expedition to cross antarctica. the crew were left stranded for months, but all survived. now scientists hope the same icy conditions that trapped the boat may have preserved it. they've sent a team using the latest tech to try and find the wreck. our science editor rebecca morelle 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 21 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 3,000 metres down. the hope is it is well preserved by the icy water. shackleton's expedition diary was saved before the endurance sank. "she went today. 5:00pm, 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. they 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 weeks, we'll see a lot of athletes competing against each other at the olympic games. but take a look at this. this is omar menchaca — he's 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. so, every morning, he paddles along a river in mexico city and picks up any trash he finds floating on the water and banks. he says that he hopes his efforts will make a difference in preserving this place for future generations. a reminder of our top story: the presidents of china and russia have announced they're to co—operate more over military and security issues. xijinping and vladimir putin stressed they were opposed to the expansion of nato — one of the key issues behind the crisis in ukraine. they held talks hours before the official opening of the winter olympics in beijing. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcnuala.

thank i'm @bbcnuala. you for watching. snow featured in friday's weather story for some parts of the uk. it will continue to feature in what is a very varied weekend weather menu. snow and ice for scotland. elsewhere, rain at times. brisk winds for pretty much all of us, but amidst all of that, 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. so 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, ten 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. it could actually turn heavy for a time on sunday morning, and 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, the 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 in beijing was toned down due to covid restrictions. the former us vice—president, mike pence, has said he could not have overturned the result of the 2020 presidential election — his strongest rebuttal so far of claims by donald trump. mr pence said it was "un—american" to think that any one person could choose the president. emergency workers in morocco say they're hopeful that they'll reach a 5—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 talking movies.