this is bbc news. the headlines: london is amongst the latest capitals to mark the new year with a firework display. this is the first time in three years that crowds and revellers have been able to attend since the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. blasts have been heard in kyiv in the early hours of the new year. the head of the ukrainian armed forces said they shot down 12 of 20 cruise missiles. earlier, president zelensky said ukraine won't forgive russia for a wave of missile attacks in which one civilian was killed and many injured. president biden is among world leaders who have paid tribute to pope benedict xvi, who died on new year's eve

at the age of 95. the former pope will lie in state at st peter's basilica from monday, and his funeral will take place on thursday. now on bbc news, our world — myanmar: inside the resistance. a people's army made up of unlikely soldiers. they're sacrificing everything to fight for democracy in myanmar. their enemy is general min aung hlaing, who seized power in a coup, ousting and jailing the country's top elected leaders. what started as a protest movement is now an armed uprising.

we follow a mother and student as they become soldiers in this new civil war. as the death toll mounts, and the world looks away, can they restore democracy? whistle blows deep in the jungles of myanmar, hundreds of protesters are being turned into soldiers

here in this rebel army camp. chanting among them is 20—year—old myo. he just finished high school when the military seized power in february last year. he arrived here four months after the coup.

he's undergoing intensive training. we've been given rare access to film. in the central plains of myanmar, 800km away, another unit is in training. this is an all—female fighting force.

mahura used to run a village store. now she's one of the unit's leaders. she asked us not to show her face or use her real name. joining the resistance meant saying goodbye to her boys, who are just five and eight.

they are part of the people's defence force, or pdf, a loose network of civilian militia groups. it was born out of the ashes of the spring revolution, triggered by the military coup. a mass uprising demanding democracy be restored. myo and mahura were part of the movement.

tens of thousands of civilians havejoined the pdf�*s ranks. they clash with the military almost daily. one month into his training, myo is struggling. he's being trained by

the ethnic karenni army. they've been fighting the military for decades for greater autonomy have and formed an alliance with the people's defence forces. nablei used to be a police officer. she defected after the military seized power.

mahura has been camping out here for four months now.

mahura helped set up this unit so that women could take an active role. the people's defence forces

are largely funded by public donations. resources are tight. in myo�*s camp, there are not enough weapons, so they have to improvise. it's only now in his final weeks of training that he's picking up a gun.

in mahura's camp, the women make bombs with whatever they can buy. diana is 21 and the group's key bomb—maker. explosives made here are used to target police stations and destroy military infrastructure.

ming aung hlaing commands a powerful army. russia and china are supplying him weapons. he's vowing to crush the people's defence forces, who he calls terrorists. his forces are bombing villages and carrying out brutal raids.

the military are relying on local informers to tip them off. now mahura has been told one is living nearby. she prepares her team to raid their house. they say they've already sent a number of warning letters.

they find a house empty. after completing his training, myo is on his first mission against the myanmar military.

rapid gunfire his unit is ambushing a remote military outpost. gunfire continues

the raid has taken the military forces by surprise. they're not in uniform. myo�*s unit takes five soldiers captive.

during the battle, myo�*s friend was badly injured.

bell rings

it's been six months since she's seen her boys.

myo, too, is longing for loved ones. it's been eight months since he left home.

two months after losing his friend, myo is being sent back into battle.

low and welcome to this look at the weather for the week. 2022 handed with heavy rain for some causing flooding. snow places particularly in scotland. significant snow in northern scotland. continuing to fall into scotland. this feature is a mixture of rain and snow with showers following on from the west. band of cloud rain and snow continuing to move across scotland. becoming

slow—moving through the day. along with the east coast, it will be too mild and we will see more in the way of rain. for england and wales, sunny spells and scattered showers. chilly further north. the weather comes down a little as weather comes down a little as we head into monday. a ridge of high pressure giving dryer, palmer but somewhat colder weather. —— karma. nothing exceptionalfor weather. —— karma. nothing exceptional for the time of year. a little colder than in many places through the week, particularly in the south. dry weather around, spells of sunshine, rain across the channel islands and wintry showers in north—west scotland. as we move out of monday into tuesday, further frontal systems through the atlantic. i returned to something more un—

settled. generally speaking the weather system will be ushering in something mild up from the south—west. temperatures on tuesday between six and 12 degrees in most places. the wednesday, the main area of pushing its way through. behind it sunny spells and showers. blustery winds. some showers under the heavyside and still quite a mild day. temperatures in double—digit for many places. as we had was thursday, another bridge of high pressure so maybe some dry weather for a time. this is still a few days off so uncertainty in the details but it could be colder at may be trying to return from the north. where it the weather front meets the cold air, this is difficult weather for this point in earlyjanuary so some

outbreaks of rain, snow on the northern edge and temperatures between six and i2 between six and 12 degrees and most part of the uk. further head, thejet most part of the uk. further head, the jet stream most part of the uk. further head, thejet stream high into the atmosphere would push just to the south of the uk, allowing some relatively cold air. we're not going to the really cold conditions of early december or anything like that but just a december or anything like that butjust a chilly december or anything like that but just a chilly field to december or anything like that butjust a chilly field to the weather and there is of low pressure pushing through, perhaps wintry showers in north, particularly over high ground with strong winds at times as well. towards the end of the week and next weekend, it may be that the time to see something a little bit chillier working through. some outbreaks of rain and the chance for snow over high ground in the north. that is how it is looking for the start of the new year. bye for now.

hello, and welcome to the programme. new year celebrations are taking place across western europe and africa. crowds are in the streets of capitals from warsaw and stockholm in the east to brussels, paris, madrid and also edinburgh and london, where 2023 is now two hours old. it's the first time since the pandemic began that large—scale events have taken place. let's begin with the scene at the river thames in central london. over 100,000 revellers welcomed in the new year to the chimes of big ben, where the countdown was projected within the london eye in the lead—up to midnight.