this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lukwesa burak. despite promises of an orthodox christmas ceasefire, russian missiles continue to strike eastern ukraine. there is still a heavy shelling coming down from the russian side. ukraine is holding onto the city, and it's not going to want to let go anytime soon. crisis talks for the uk's national health service — the prime minister urges health leaders from across england to take �*bold and radical action�*. that was easy, huh? at the 15th attempt, kevin mccarthy is elected us house speaker — after making concessions to the right of the republican party.

and, iran faces international condemnation after executing two more anti—government protesters. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. in ukraine — vladimir putin had said his forces would stop fighting for 36 hours so orthodox christians could celebrate christmas this weekend. the ceasefire was supposed to run from 9am yesterday morning to 9pm today uk time.

but kyiv dismissed the ceasefire, as a russian tactic to regroup its soldiers. and while millions of ukrainians and russians were able to enjoy the festivities, fighting continued along a front line which spans 700 miles. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, producer siobhan leahy and cameraman paul francis have sent this report from the eastern city of bakhmut on the front line. you leave civilisation behind on the journey to bakhmut. we are heading to one of the most hostile parts of the front line. and coming into view is a city in the middle of it. the russians are just a mile away. ukraine is fiercely defending here. invading forces have thrown everything at the city, leaving it almost deserted.

braving it above ground is a ukrainian soldier. translation: the situation is tense. l there are explosions and strikes coming from the enemy's side. they promised a ceasefire but we don't see it. we don't feel or see it. they said one thing but in reality it is different. few expected the ceasefire to hold anyway. it was announced by russia in the first place and ukraine was never going to engage but there is still heavy shelling coming down from the russian side. ukraine is holding onto this city and it's not going to want to let go any time soon. in bakhmut, those who flinch are in the minority.

sergei tries to patch up what he can. translation: you would not wish this on your worst enemy. - we tried to celebrate christmas regardless. we put up a tree and decorations, but it was in the basement. we didn't forget about this holiday. we can't hang around for too long. but this is about as far as you can get from a normal christmas. eastern ukraine has gone through nine years of russian aggression. there have been several attempts at ceasefires. few here expected this latest one to bring any respite. james waterhouse, bbc news, bakhmut. turning to the uk now — prime minister, rishi sunak and the health secretary — have been meeting leaders of nhs organisations and medical experts in downing street — to try to tackle the ongoing challenges facing the health

service in england. with many a&e departments unable to keep up with demand — and long waits for other medical care, rishi sunak said he recognises the system is under enormous pressure.the opposition, labour party, said today's meeting here's our political correspondent, ben wright. around a0 of england's nhs managers were summoned to no 10 for this saturday meeting, a chance to share their thoughts with ministers under pressure. how bad is the nhs crisis? it is the worst for years and the government knows it needs to get a grip of it. the new prime minister faces an early test, with senior doctors warning the nhs is on a knife edge. these pictures were released by downing street, and today's meeting was the first of its kind since rishi sunak took over. it focused on four main areas. gp services, emergency care waiting lists and delays discharging patients into social care. i'm confident action will be taken. these are difficult problems to fix, though, so, i think it's unlikely we're going to have it sorted

by the end of this winter. but perhaps if we start planning for next winter, we might have it cracked by then. for months, this winter crisis was forecast. a fragile, overstretched health system struggling with high demand, ambulances delayed, patients waiting for beds. there are 85 patients awaiting a medical bed. so, these are patients that have been seen in a&e and being seen by the medical doctors, and are deemed to need to stay in. they need further care on a medical ward. unfortunately, there aren't any medical beds available. the government has stumped up more money to try and unblock hospitals and move more patients into social care. and at today's meeting, the prime minister wanted to know why some nhs trusts were managing better than others. a day's brainstorming with nhs bosses in downing street won't quickly fix the crisis in the health service and there is no easy lever to pull. but politically, the government needs to look like it's doing something to tackle the problems that

patients are facing. well, the concern is that this is just another talking shop and we know what the problems are in the health service. we know that waiting times and waiting lists have been at an all time high, and that was true before the pandemic. what do we want? fair pay! compounding the crisis now are strikes. trade unions were not at today's meeting, and so far ministers are refusing to discuss this year's current pay deal for ambulance drivers and nurses, who both plan further walk—outs later this month. tens of thousands of members of the rmt union have been taking part in the second day of a 48—hour stoppage on the rail network, in a protest about pay, conditions and jobs. with just one in five services operating in england, scotland and wales , people were told to avoid travelling by train unless absolutely necessary.

our business correspondent marc ashdown reports from king's cross. it has been another hugely frustrating day for anyone hoping to travel by rail. just 20% of services ran across the uk today and i'm afraid they are pretty much done now and this dispute is not done either. it involves of course 40,000 members of the rmt union. about half work for the 14 rail companies, about half work for network rail. now, they have a pay offer on the table of 4% last year and 4% this year. network rail offering a tiny bit more. the good news for now is after today, no further strike days are planned, but there are still some pretty big sticking points, not least who opens the doors ona train. at the moment, on most of them, the guards do it. but the companies want to see drivers start to do that. this is a red line in the sand for the unions. we have heard overnight that there could be some movement on that, some negotiation, and it could even be removed altogether. the government, though, would need to sign off on that. fresh talks then are planned on monday,

which is the positive note, but do not forget the government is still pushing ahead with these anti—strike laws. that would mean in future strikes, unions would have to guarantee a minimum level of service in key public areas like ambulances, fire and the rails or face being sued. now, you can imagine how that has gone down. they rmt have said, we will probably challenge that in court. labour have said they will repeal it if they get in, so i think new year, same issues. a bit of fresh optimism with fresh talks, and no further strikes planned, but some pretty big hurdles remain. let's get some of the day's other news. two underground trains have crashed in mexico city — killing at least one person and injuring more than 50 others. the trains collided between two stations on line three — which is one of the oldest in the city's metro system. witnesses say one of the conductors managed to reverse the train to the nearest station, enabling some of passengers to get off on the platform. thousands of israelis have taken part in protests against

the new right—wing government. demonstrators marched through the streets of tel aviv on saturday, accusing prime minister benjamin netanyahu's administration of endangering democracy through proposed judicial reforms. the plans would allow parliament to override decisions made by the supreme court. the governing coalition is the most religious and hard—line in israel's history. the authors margaret attwood, ian mcewan and sally rooney have been targeted by an italian man, who has admitted stealing more than a thousand unpublished manuscripts. filippo bernardini impersonated figures from the publishing industry to trick many high—profile authors into handing over their works. bernardini, pleaded guilty in new york to wire fraud, but his motive has never been clear. the newly elected

speaker of the us house of representatives, kevin mccarthy, has said former president trump helped him finally secure his position — after 15 rounds of voting — and at times, acrimonious exchanges with fellow republicans. he said "i don't think anybody should doubt" mr trump's influence. president biden congratulated mr mccarthy on his win and said he looked forward to co—operating with his party. our washington correspondent, gary o'donoghue, reports. it took them four days and 15 separate ballots before they finally got there. the honourable kevin mccarthy of the state of california, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the house of representatives. cheering. not since the american civil war more than 160 years ago has it taken this long to elect a speaker. that was easy, huh?

i never thought we'd get up here. after multiple concessions, days of arm—twisting, and some tempers almost boiling over, kevin mccarthy finally persuaded enough on the right of his party to back him. though it did take phone calls direct to the house floor from the former president donald trump to persuade some recalcitrant republicans. i do want to especially thank president trump. i don't think anybody should doubt his influence. he was with me from the beginning. somebody wrote the doubt of whether he was there. he was all in. but kevin mccarthy has paid a price for his victory. he's had to agree to a whole raft of measures that will weaken his position, including the reinstatement of a rule that will allow just one member of the house to trigger a vote of no—confidence in the speaker. he is going to be the weakest| speaker in the modern history of the country and he'll be i

held hostage to these 2021 radical republicans. it's been two years since rioters, supporters of donald trump, stormed the capitol, trying to block joe biden�*s election and to hunt down the then democratic speaker of the house in her own office. and while kevin mccarthy has finally got the main job, there are some in his own party who will be hounding his every move for the next two years. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, washington. a short time ago i spoke to mark williams — a former top aide to republican congressman, mike conaway — and now principal at ferox strategies, a government advisory firm. i started by asking him if he had expected the election of mr mccarthy to be quite so difficult and chaotic. it was always going to be difficult to be a speaker in this majority. and, so, ithink

he recognised that. i think he knew that he was going to have to negotiate with folks on his left hand and on his right. and he's done that. did it take longer than he anticipated? of course. but, again, i've been in and around this town for almost 20 years. i've never seen margins this slim. so, we knew it was going to be difficult. but look, i don't think there's anyone that's better equipped for this job than kevin mccarthy. i think he's got the respect of the right and of the left flank in the republican party. however, do you think we're more likely to see the democrats and the republicans working together in order to get business through? because, you know, there could be a lot of blocks. i think there'll be a tonne of blocks. i think you'll see some bipartisanship when it comes to things like the debt ceiling. i'm not sure what kind of compromise they they negotiated i'm not sure what kind of compromise they negotiated within the conference to get votes. but i think you'll see bipartisan there. i think you'll have to see bipartisanship when it comes

to funding the government. but at the end of the day, there's going to be a ton ofjust republican controlled bills crossing the floor of the house of representatives. there's going to be a huge focus on china. a huge focus on the 87,000 irs agents that the biden administration wants to fund and other things of that nature. so, yes, i think there's going to have to be a shade of bipartisanship, but you'll see a tonne of bills passing with just republicans. and i wonder, mark, if you could just give us an indication when are the next votes on the spending bill, for example, or raising the federal debt limit? when are they expected? so, the debt limit is a bit of a moving target. i don't think we have a date on that yet. so, we'll put a pin on that one when we start to approach that. and it really needs to it needs to be handled when it comes to spending. we've got until september because we just passed a spending bill here at the end of the last congress. so, he's got some time, which is why i think you'll

see him really focus on things like the border, like oversight of the biden administration here in the first couple of months of his speakership. this is bbc news — our main headlines... russia has continued to shell eastern ukraine despite calling for a 36 hour ceasefire for orthodox christmas celebrations. britain's prime minister rishi sunak has met health experts from across england on saturday to discuss "crucial challenges" in the national health service. a six—year—old boy has been detained by police, after shooting a teacher in the us state of virginia. the shooting happened at richneck elementary school in the city of newport news. it is unclear how he obtained the gun, but officers say the incident wasn't "an accidental shooting". i've been speaking to philipjones, the mayor of newport news, where the shooting took place —

about the situation. so, myself and other members of council spent the night at the hospital. we checked in on the teacher today. currently, she is in stable condition. the boy was only six years old. he is in police custody. we have to ask, how is he? right now, it's an ongoing police investigation so i won't comment on individual things. but, i would say right now my main priority is making sure that that child has all mental health services that he needs and requires. ok, the community must be in shock. what do you have to say? what are they saying? what can you say to reassure them? honestly, my heart breaks for my community today. it has been a long night forfirst responders, for the principal, for teachers, for parents. newport news is a city that is built on breakthroughs.

we will come together from this. it is going to take a little bit of time, but we will come together. how is it that a six—year—old managed to get a gun into school? i suppose, firstly, an elementary school. would schools in that age group have metal detectors? it depends. it is city by city. i like to defer a lot of that to the school board and superintendent. but i will say that the safety of our children is my number one priority. and we will take a look at a few things, after we solve this investigation. i understand the superintendent has said that while district schools have metal detection capability, the schools don't make the children walk through a metal detector every day. that is very sad that children of that age would have to do that. agreed. right now, that is the policy for the district and some of the schools in newport news. right now, the chief priority

is ensuring that we complete the investigation. after that, i think there is an opportunity for city leaders and state leaders to come together and figure out what needs to happen. there's been international condemnation of iran — after it executed two more anti—government protesters. the us special envoy to iran, robert malley, said the executions of seyyed mohammad hosseini and mohammad mehdi karami followed "sham trials. human rights groups have also condemned the killings earlier i spoke to hadi ghaemi, who's executive director at the centre for human rights in iran, and began by asking him what sort of reaction there has been from within iran. early this morning, there has been great and universal outrage, anger and sadness of losing another two young protesters to a very questionable judicial process that seems to be in a rush to shed as much blood as possible.

so from all quarters, i hear a lot of condemnation and anger and manifestation of that may come to physical for tomorrow in the streets of iran, where they are called for demonstrations to condemn this and also to mark the third anniversary of shooting down of a passenger plane by revolutionary guards. mr ghaemi, there was a statistic that i came across. the human rights news agency have reported that there's been an 88% rise in executions in 2022 compared to 2021. now, i understand that these men were charged with "moharebeh". what is that? and is that what accounts for this rise? well, in general, iranian government is very fond of executions, especially when it feels politically unstable. and the charge of moharebeh literally means enmity against god.

it is a very subjective, vague term, together with the charge of spreading corruption on earth. it allows the judges, without having to have any kind of template or measure of what these charges mean to subjectively apply them. so these men were put to death because basically they rose up against the state that declares itself the representative of god on earth. and therefore challenging it is enmity against god. and it is under those circumstances they have been hanged. china is preparing to scrap its quarantine rules for travel on sunday, it's been called the great reopening. the relexation makes moving into and around china a viable option for the first time in three years. it's happening just as the country prepares to celebrate its annual lunar new year, raising concerns about tens of millions of covid infections. joe inwood reports

in the world's most populous nation, at the world's biggest ice fair, they're making final preparations for the world's biggest migration. this is the annual harbin snow festival, the centrepiece of the regional tourism sector. it is an industry that has been on ice. but with the government abandoning its zero—covid policy in time for the lunar new year, that is all changing. china is opening for business. translation: compared to the last two years, - we are seeing far more tourists. after they lifted the covid restrictions, there was a significant increase in visitors. i'm confident harbin�*s tourism will recover. people are still looking forward to coming here. they're expecting nearly 2.1 billionjourneys to be made over the lunar new year. that's twice as many as in 2022, although still below the 3 billion made

before the pandemic. while most of those will be made by people who live in china, with international travel restrictions easing this weekend, there is also expected to be a rising number coming from abroad. people like hiu man chan. she runs an organisation promoting links between the british and chinese film industries, and hasn't seen herfamily in more than three years. it's taking the soul out of me, not being able to travel and connect with people on a personal level. that's the core role for myjob and for family gathering as well, so not being able to be there in person, um, yeah, is... it's very damaging, i think. i can't wait to see them, to really hug them. i mean, i've seen them, videos on the news, people hugging at airports and being united, reunited but i haven't had a chance yet, so i cannot wait to give my mother a kiss and to

hug my brother. the change in policy was as swift as it was dramatic. since the start of the pandemic, entire cities have been locked down to stop outbreaks — the so—called zero—covid strategy. crowd shouts. but after three years of draconian restrictions, people had seemingly had enough. an unprecedented wave of protests swept across many towns and cities in china. under huge pressure, the government scrapped a policy it had spent three years saying was vital for public health. what is really the legitimacy of the chinese government? it is still largely resting on providing a reasonable level of income, providing a reasonable level of living standard for its ordinary population. so economically, the economy still prioritised over, in this case, pandemic control, so i think the message

has been quite clear from the government in december, for the central economic work conference, it's mostly about saving the economy in 2023. and the impact of that decision is already being seen in china's hospitals. the lifting of restrictions has led to a huge surge in covid cases, with the world health organization accusing the government of vastly under—reporting the death toll. there are fears the virus is out of control and that the coming holidays will make that even worse. treasure hunters in the netherlands are hoping to find valuables worth millions, hidden by nazi soldiers during world war two. an old map believed to mark the spot where the german soldiers hid diamonds, rubies, gold and silver, was made public by the dutch national archive.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lukwesaburak hello there. the start of this weekend has been unsettled, thanks to low pressure, wet, windy, followed by blustery showers and sunny spells. part two of the weekend also unsettled with the same area of low pressure close by, it's going to stay pretty windy with plenty of showers rattling in from the south—west. here it is, this deep low, the centre sitting just the north of scotland on sunday, some fairly strong winds close to it's centre over the north and west of scotland. elsewhere, plenty of isobars so it is going to be another blustery day, maybe not quite as windy across inland areas that we had on saturday but lots of showers around, forming bands moving from west to east, some of them heavy with some hail, some thunder mixed in, very windy across the north and west of scotland, gusts of 60, 70 miles an hour. tending to ease down a little bit later in the day but it's going to be a blustery day

wherever you are. probably the best of the brighter and sunnier moments will be towards eastern scotland, eastern england. but a cooler day to come for all, temperatures of six to nine degrees, for most in single digits. sunday night, little change, it stays blustery, further bands of showers moving from west to east. wintry elements of them over the hills of scotland and we will see that throughout the day on sunday, maybe even down to lower levels for the early part of monday. it will turn a little bit colder across the north and the west. as that area of low pressure pulls away on monday, it allows this brief ridge of high pressure to nose in. that will tend to settle things down, kill off the showers across some southern and western areas, but they will continue to rattle into parts of scotland, maybe north—west england again, wintry elements over the hills. but an increasing chance of drier and brighter weather in the south on monday, thanks to that ridge of high pressure, and we could be up to ten or 11 degrees, still quite chilly further north. that brief ridge won't last long, it will clear away during monday night. into tuesday, it is back to square one, wet and windy conditions with this next area of low pressure moving in.

so some of that rain will be quite heavy as it splashes its weight northwards and eastwards, snow on its leading edge as it bumps into the colder air across scotland but it will revert back to rain as very much milder air pumps up from the south. and we are looking at highs of 13 or 1a degrees across southern britain. and it will be initially cold at the start of the day across the north as the milder air will spread northwards. it stays pretty unsettled for the second half of the new week as well, with further spells of wet and windy weather followed by some quieter moments, too.

this is bbc news, the headlines... russia has continued to shell various regions in ukraine despite calling for a 36—hour ceasefire for orthodox christmas celebrations. president volodymyr zelensky said vladimir putin's offer of a truce, now ended, was deceitful. he said peace in ukraine would only be restored when russian forces were expelled. british prime minister rishi sunak has called on health leaders to take "bold and radical" action to reduce the extreme pressures on the national health service. he called the meetings in downing street "highly valuable", but the opposition labour party called it "just another talking shop". kevin mccarthy has been sworn in as speaker of the us house of representatives after 15 rounds of voting. a small group of republican

rebels had derailed