welcome to bbc news. i'm david willis. our top stories: hundreds flee the ukrainian city of kherson because of intense russian shelling. we'll have a special report from on the ground. more than 60 people are killed in winter storms across the united states and canada. president biden approves emergency funding. who is george santos? we'll tell you about the ambitious us politician who seemingly lied his way into congress. and farewell to the milk man, j] watt. one of the nfl�*s greatest ever defensive players is to retire.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we start this hour with a special report from ukraine from the southern port of kherson, which is under increased bombardment from russian forces, and where — today — the maternity ward of a hospital was among the places being shelled. kherson is often called the gateway to crimea and because of its strategic importance, it was one of the first places taken by russian forces at the start of the war. it was liberated last month in a significant gain for ukrainian troops. but civilians are now living with a daily onslaught of russian shelling. our correspondent yogita limaye has spent the last four days in kherson with colleagues imogen anderson, sanjay ganguly and mariana matveichuk, and they sent this special report.

i should warn you — it contains some distressing images. kherson is being pounded. this is where one of more than a0 mortars fell in a single day. a city haunted by relentless attacks. another shell hit nearby between a block of homes. as the firemen worked, we heard the sound of more explosions. after a brief pause, they returned to the job. dousing the fire before anyone was hurt. down the road, we found people in a panic. "punish the russians fortheir crimes, punish them their whole lives", a woman cried. they had just seen a neighbour's home being bombed. she had to be rescued

from the debris. over and over the cycle repeats. the day before, 56—year—old serhii breshun was killed here while he was sleeping. we met his mother tamara. serhii was her only child. translation: | must have felti something would go wrong that morning, because i urged him to wake up and leave the house, but he didn't and that was it. our lives are ruined. she had come to look for his passport amidst the rubble. a document to release his body from the morgue. we had barely finished the conversation and there is more bombings.

where do you live? man: more started. this is a picture of what's happening literally every single day in multiple locations, this is the constant sound that we hear in kherson of artillery fire being exchanged. this city is essentially now pretty much on the front line, close to the river which has become the de facto front line in the south. behind me actually is where an explosion took place just over an hour ago. five people were killed here, 20 were injured. every single day there are people being killed in this city. six more died later. ordinary people out at the central market. at a spot where just last month they had celebrated being freed from russian control. surviving in kherson is a matter of chance.

viktoria yaryshko, a red cross volunteer, was killed just outside this base, a few feet from safety. in the underground shelter, her mother liudmyla showed us the medal of honour she was given. translation: i'm very happy she helped a lot of people. i she was so kind. but it's also painful for me. i must recover and raise her two children. i tell them they should be proud of their mother, because she's a hero. viktoria's son sasha and his sister live here. clearly comfortable with other volunteers. war and loss bind them together. dmitro was viktoria's friend. translation: when someone so close dies it is difficult, - but if we give up and stop, then her death will have been in vain. we work to make sure people live. everything else is secondary. the bombs don't stop.

while he waits for emergency calls... ..he checks if his wife and children are ok. then he heads out to evacuate those in need. in the few days that we have been here we have seen the sentiment of relief that there was in this city after it was liberated from russian control in november change very quickly to one of fear and terror. when the russians withdrew, they pulled back to the other side of the dnipro river and that's where they're continuously bombarding this city from. hundreds have begun to leave kherson. these roads leading out had been clear until christmas. have you been affected by the shelling? we asked iryna antonenko why she was going. translation: we stayed this whole time and thought it - would pass, but when the home next to ours and my father's

home was hit, it was too scary. at the train station, a mother and three daughters. carrying all they can in small bags and boxes. "it's very difficult to leave, i love ukraine and my dear city, but we have to get out of here somehow now," elena selivanova told us. she doesn't know when she might see these friends again. everyone in this city has a painful choice to make. at least 62 people have been killed in winter storms sweeping across north america. us officials are calling it the �*blizzard of the century�* with an extra nine inches of snow expected during the day in new york state where the city of buffalo has borne the brunt of the arctic conditions. the storm has affected a vast area from canada in the north,

down through the us and reaching mexico. president biden has approved emergency measures allowing financial support for new york state. with all the latest, our correspondent nada tawfik reports from new york. buried by record snowfall, buffalo has only begun to dig itself out. up until now, near white—out conditions and hurricane—force winds created a life—threatening situation, paralysing emergency response efforts and trapping vehicles along the roadways. this once—in—a—lifetime blizzard has claimed the lives of at least 28 people here during the holiday weekend. the fear now is that more fatalities will be uncovered by the melting snow. the situation is still dire. thousands are without power, and a driving ban remains in place. at grocery stores, reopening for the first time since the storm hit, people queued up to stock up on much—needed

essentials and food. authorities pleaded with people to be careful as they slowly open up the city over the next several days. there's a lot of roads that are completely blocked right now, that have no access whatsoever. and people are trying to drive on these roads, or get into these neighbourhoods, and they can't. please, please, you heard the mayor beg, i'm begging, stay home. in other parts of the country, thawing out after the deep freeze has led to a new set of issues. in montana, which recorded temperatures as frigid as —45 celsius, the sudden warming created flash flooding. in the small—town of fishtail, massive chunks of ice blocked roads and covered people's yards. that shift in temperature caused ice to melt to very quickly. and itjust released all of the ice off of the west rosebud, causing kind

of like a tidal wave. this storm is truly unprecedented in scope, stretching from canada to mexico, affecting 60% of the us population. presidentjoe biden has promised the full force of the federal government to help those most affected, and while the bad weather has already started to ease, problems will likely persist for days. this is a holiday season no—one will soon forget. it should have been a time for cheer. instead, the bomb cyclone has brought misery. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. let's get some of the day's other news. china is to scrap quarantine for travellers from the eighth ofjanuary, marking the last major shift from the country's zero—covid policy. after almost three years of closed borders, the country will reopen to those with work and study visas, or wanting to visit family. covid has spread ferociously in the wake of restrictions being lifted.

the un security council has condemned recent taliban restrictions on women. in a statement the council members call for �*the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls'. the statement says the restrictions imposed on female aid workers contradict commitments made by the taliban to the afghan people, as well as the expectations of the international community. police in india are investigating the deaths of two russian men, one of them a politician who had criticised the war in ukraine. pavel antov appears to have fallen from his hotel room window, while his friend, vladimir bidyonov was said to have had a heart attack two days earlier. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: meet the mystery man of congress. the ambitious us politician

who wasn't exactly straight with the voters. the most ambitious financial and political change ever attempted has got under way with the introduction of the euro. tomorrow in holland, we're gonna use money and then, we'll be in france and again. _ it's just got to be the way to go. crowd yelling george harrison, i the former beatle, is recovering in hospital after being stabbed - at his oxfordshire home. a 33—year—old man from - liverpool is being interviewed by police on suspicion of attempted murder. - i think it was good. just good? no, fantastic. big ben bongs

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: hundreds of people are fleeing the ukrainian city of kherson mark because of intense russian shelling attacks. more than 60 people have been killed in winter storms across the united states and canada. president biden has approved federal emergency help. there are being courts in united states for it then you have that republican congressmen and to resign after he admitted embellishing his resume. throughout his campaign george santos, who are said to

represent a district on long island, said he had worked for major banks and graduated from university. but an investigation by the new york times found that many of his claims were false. on monday george santos spoke to the podcast political personalities with skye about being caught out. steve herman is chief national correspondent with voice of america news. he's in widewater, virginia. welcome to bbc news. does he have to resign? hat have to resign? not necessarily. - have to resign? not necessarily. it's - have to resign? not - necessarily. it's unlikely he will be expelled from congress even though he hasn't officially entered congress yet, a very rare occurrence in the history of the united states congress. we really had a trickle of republicans who have actually called for him to resign so far. it's been mostly

democrats. resign so far. it's been mostly demente— resign so far. it's been mostly democrats. ., _, ., , democrats. how come it was the media are _ democrats. how come it was the media are not — democrats. how come it was the media are not his _ democrats. how come it was the media are not his democratic- media are not his democratic opponents that actually caught him out? . , _, , him out? certainly, it could be aruued it him out? certainly, it could be argued it was _ him out? certainly, it could be argued it was a _ him out? certainly, it could be argued it was a failure - him out? certainly, it could be argued it was a failure of- argued it was a failure of republican party to vet him but opposition parties do opposition parties do opposition research. this was not a safe republican district that he won election to. he flipped the seat in a very close congressional difference between the republicans and democrats, so i think we're going to be questions asked by the of themselves, how come they did not catch this before they did not catch this before the election? {iii they did not catch this before the election?— the election? of all these embellishments, - the election? of all these embellishments, it - the election? of all these embellishments, it is - the election? of all these - embellishments, it is perhaps the claim, is it not, of his jewishness that's the most typical to explain? jewishness that's the most typical to explain?- jewishness that's the most typical to explain? typicalto explain? yes, he is catholic _ typicalto explain? yes, he is catholic. he _ typicalto explain? yes, he is catholic. he claimed - typicalto explain? yes, he is catholic. he claimed to - typicalto explain? yes, he is catholic. he claimed to be i catholic. he claimed to be jewish and that he was the

descended of holocaust survivors from ukraine who had fled to belgium. it appears to be made up. when he was asked to explain it, he said i never claimed to bejewish. i claimed to bejew—ish, which was also false. to be jew-ish, which was also false. , , u, to be jew-ish, which was also false. , , ., , false. the republican party will be in — false. the republican party will be in no _ false. the republican party will be in no hurry- false. the republican party will be in no hurry to - false. the republican party will be in no hurry to throw| will be in no hurry to throw this man out. they need him for a variety of reasons?— a variety of reasons? right now, a variety of reasons? right now. kevin _ a variety of reasons? right now, kevin mccarthy, - a variety of reasons? right now, kevin mccarthy, who| a variety of reasons? right - now, kevin mccarthy, who was the top republican in the house, certainly needs him because he wants to be house speaker, and that that is going to be very close because he does not have the support of all the republicans, and santos has said previously that he would vote for kevin mccarthy. we will find that one of the not sometime soon. but they could be some action against him after that is all said and done, and he is in a position now where if he were to even be

caughtjaywalking after he caught jaywalking after he swears caughtjaywalking after he swears the oath of office in the us house of representatives, he would add up representatives, he would add up in even more trouble. there will be a lot of people including republicans looking for any excuse to boot him out. briefly, could there be other issues to drop, other claims emerged about the man? he seems to have embellished, _ emerged about the man? he seems to have embellished, as _ emerged about the man? he seems to have embellished, as he - emerged about the man? he seems to have embellished, as he puts - to have embellished, as he puts it, a lot of people are saying he is an outright serial liar, a fabulist, have you, and there is almost certainly more to come out every day, it seems, the new york times, new york post and other members of the media are revealing something new about george santos's past, which is turning out to be alive. ~ , ., alive. we must leave it there. thank you _ alive. we must leave it there. thank you for _ alive. we must leave it there. thank you forjoining - alive. we must leave it there. thank you forjoining us - alive. we must leave it there. thank you forjoining us here | thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen, has announced that all men will be required to serve one year's military service.

the announcement came after china carried out one of its biggest incursions to date in the seas and skies around taiwan on sunday, with fighterjets and warships deployed around the island. the taiwanese leader said it was needed to counter the growing chinese military pressure. earlier i spoke to our reporter azadeh moshiri who explained the wider context of the decision. this does not start untiljanuary 2024, it's worth mentioning that. but it signals how much of a threat taiwan views china. china, which does not recognise taiwan as an independent country, despite the fact it has its own constitution, its own elected leaders, china sees taiwan as a breakaway province that needs to be reunited. the events of the past year, things like the visit of the former speaker of the house nancy pelosi to taiwan in august, something that deeply upset china and caused china to launch one of its biggest military exercises around the island, have very much concerned china

as well as taiwan. they have had strong rebukes from politicians on both sides. taiwan clearly views this as something that it has to prepare for, danger and conflict that could be coming and the war in ukraine has changed people's minds, leaders' minds about how prepared they need to be and that the status quo may not be the status quo for long. you mentioned nancy pelosi and there has been tension between the united states and china. how has the us reacted? the main response now is from the american institute in taiwan. the united states does not have an embassy in taiwan so that's the closest you get to an intermediary, and they have repeated things the united states typically says, things like this are about self defence, this is about deterrence, that the united states supports a peaceful resolution between these two parties. but the united states has

long walked a difficult tightrope between the two parties. on the one hand, it recognises only beijing has the one china policy, which means they only recognise one chinese government, but on the other hand it has what it calls an unofficial robust relationship with taiwan, which is why it sells taiwan weapons to defend itself and recently approved $10 billion in spending for taiwan over the next five years. the tensions between china and the united states are at the heart of this. azadeh moshiri there. pop star mel c has announced she's pulling out of a new year's eve concert in poland. she didn't specify why, but her decision has been praised by members of the lgbt community. the polish authorities and the television company that was going to broadcast the concert have been widely criticised for their attitudes to gay rights. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. # i thought that we would just be friends

# things will never be the same again. for more than 25 years, both as a solo artist and as part of the spice girls, mel c has been performing all around the world. but now she has decided there is at least one place where she does not want to perform. in a statement on twitter she said: mel c is a high—profile supporter of lgbt rights. even being named as honorary gay by attitude magazine earlier this year. gay rights have become something of a flashpoint in poland, with demonstrators on both sides taking to the streets. same—sex marriages and civil unions are not recognised in the country and same—sex couples have no legal right to adopt children. earlier this year amnesty international said the atmosphere of hostility towards the community

is growing dangerously worse. the issue of pop stars performing in countries with a conservative attitude to lgbt rights was recently highlighted by the world cup in qatar. big names like robbie williams and the black eyed peas held concerts during the event, even though homosexuality is illegal in the country. as for mel c, her decision was welcomed by some in poland. one opposition politican saying, tim allman, bbc news. jj watt, considered one of the nfl�*s greatest—ever defensive players, has announced he will retire at the end of the current season. the arizona cardinals defensive—end, known by fans as the milk man, was voted nfl defensive player of the year three times.

watt spent a decade with the houston texans, before joining arizona in 2021. it's been 25 years since the van of —— ottawa treaty, one of them are successful disarmament treaties. but every year thousands of people continue to be killed or injured by the devices. anotherfoster be killed or injured by the devices. another foster reports from lebanon on very huge deer mining operation is currently under way. mining operation is currently under way-— mining operation is currently under wa . ., ., under way. three, two, one... demolition. _ under way. three, two, one... demolition. nine _ under way. three, two, one... | demolition. nine antipersonnel mines destroyed in a split second. foryears, mines destroyed in a split second. for years, the ground here has been sick with them. many were laid less than a metre apart by israeli forces

during the conflict of 1982. every day a team of the d— carefully scans the land. uncover the minds and make them safe. this person is an expert now. ~ ., now. when i found the mind, i call the supervisor _ now. when i found the mind, i call the supervisorjacket. - call the supervisor jacket. after that, at the end of the day, they make an explosion. you say that in a relaxed way! yes, because it is four years so it's a daily routine. it’s so it's a daily routine. it's dangerous _ so it's a daily routine. it's dangerous work. - dangerous work. the mines advisory group has been active in the banana since 2001. here in the banana since 2001. here in this village they cleared nearly 800 devices. it is next to the politically sensitive boundary with israel. that means special techniques are

needed to destroy the explosives without damaging the barrier. this is a clear safe channel through the minefield. on this side behind the white sticks you have these new green shoots and they were planted right after the land was handed over only about a month ago now. look how close it is to this, this is an active minefield still contaminated land, still loaded with antipersonnel and anti—tank mines. and they plant their crops fast. lebanon on's economic crisis makes them desperate for cleared land to grow food. translation: ilistens grow food. translation: were frustrated- _ grow food. translation: were frustrated. i _ grow food. translation: were frustrated. i can't _ grow food. translation: were frustrated. i can't describe - frustrated. i can't describe the feeling of not being able to use the land where we grew in the past. we had to stop because of mines. it in the past. we had to stop because of mines.- in the past. we had to stop because of mines. it was an awful feeling. _ awfulfeeling. worldwide, around 15 people a day are still injured by landmines. translation: i still injured by landmines. translation:— still injured by landmines. translation: i was knocked unconscious _ translation: i was knocked

unconscious and _ translation: i was knocked unconscious and when - translation: i was knocked unconscious and when i - translation: i was knocked unconscious and when i woke j translation: l was knocked i unconscious and when i woke up i could not see my fingers. they were gone.— i could not see my fingers. they were gone. you get more in sto on they were gone. you get more in story on our— they were gone. you get more in story on our website, _ story on our website, bbc.com/news. this is bbc news. hello. on tuesday, it was cold enough for snow in parts of scotland. through the rest of this week, and indeed the rest of the year, there will be some snow, but only really over hills in the north, because elsewhere it'll be too mild for that — some spells of heavy rain instead and some strong winds. a lot of rain to come, actually, particularly over the hills in wales and the western side of england. some places here could see over 100 millimetres of rain over the next five days, so that could cause some flooding and some disruption. and this bout of wet weather will move its way northwards and eastwards during wednesday, a frontal system pushing in quite quickly from the south—west. rain moving quickly northwards across england, wales, into northern ireland, southern and central parts of scotland.

we may see some snow mixing in over the highest ground of the grampians. it's going to be windy, particularly across england and wales. those are the gusts we can expect through the afternoon. but it will be mild for most, 11 or 12 degrees for much of england and wales, ten there for northern ireland. for scotland, highs of six or seven degrees. now, as we go through wednesday night, this band of rain — with some snow over the mountains in scotland — will continue to drift northwards. plenty of showers following on with some blustery winds. overnight, temperatures generally between 4—8 degrees. but as we go into thursday, a subtle change because as this area of low pressure drifts through and we end up on the back edge of it, well, the winds will shift direction to a north—westerly, so it's going to feel a little bit chillier on thursday. nothing exceptional for the time of year. it's certainly not going to be a cold day butjust a slightly chillier one, 6—10 degrees, sunny spells, some showers, which will be wintry over high ground in the north. and then for friday, another weather system. an area of low pressure hurtles in from the atlantic. that will bring some very heavy rain, again,

moving its way quite quickly northwards and eastwards, with some snow over the mountains in scotland, clearing to sunshine and showers. the risk of gales in places on friday. but with the winds broadly coming from the southwest, it is going to be a mild day. now, for the end of 2022 and into the start of the new year, northern parts of the uk will see something a little colder and there could be some snow over the hills. further south, it'll be milder with some rain at times.

this is bbc news, the headlines: hundreds of people are fleeing the ukrainian city of kherson because of intense russian shelling. bombardment of the city has increased sharply over the past few days. on tuesday a shell hit the maternity ward president zelensky said russian airstrikes would not harm the spirit of ukrainians. at least 62 people have been killed in winter storms sweeping across north america. us officials are calling it the �*blizzard of the century.�* the storm has affected a vast area — from canada in the north down through the us and reaching as far as mexico. taiwan's president has announced that mandatory military service for all eligible men will rise from four months to a year.