hello and welcome to bbc news. the ceasefire in ukraine — declared by russia, for the orthodox christmas — has come to an end. clashes between ukrainian and russian forces continued throughout the 36—hour period. president zelensky said vladimir putin's offer was deceitful — he said peace in ukraine would only be restored when russian forces were expelled. and moscow said it reserved the right to return fire if its troops were attacked. our correspondent, james waterhouse — along with producer siobhan leahy and cameraman paul francis — 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. 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 tump�*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 weakestj 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. you can find more on all the stories by going to our website.

prime minister rishi sunak has spent the day holding meetings with health leaders in downing street — to try to tackle what the government has called "the most crucial challenges" facing the national health service. pressure is building on ministers to act after another week of headlines about long waiting times, ambulance delays and doctors' concerns. 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. a 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. let's get some of the day's other news. two metro 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 3 — which is one of the oldest in the city's metro system. federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash. thousands of israelis have taken part in protests against the new right—wing government. many accused the administration of endangering democracy through proposed judicial reforms. the plans would allow parliament to override decisions made by the supreme court. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has sought to calm concerns about the fate of civil rights. ivory coast has welcomed home dozens of soldiers who'd been detained for six months in mali. the troops were accused of being mercenaries and their detention sparked a bitter diplomatic row. the soldiers were pardoned by mali's military leader on friday, a week after being given long jail terms for allegedly undermining state security. the united states has called for iran to stop executing anti— government protesters. the state department said two men who were hanged on saturday

were convicted in sham trials. britain and the european union have have also condemned iran's use of the death penalty. shelley phelps reports nationwide protests have swept around since the death of a woman in september who had been detained by the country basement morality police. no two men have been hanged for killing a member of the security forces during the demonstrations. they had appealed against their sentences, saying they had been tortured into making false confessions. on saturday, iranian state tv broadcast footage of the two men testifying during a court hearing that has been condemned as a sham trial by human rights groups. in every single execution we see that the primary and the most significant evidence are self self—incriminating confessions

obtained under torture and we know that one of the people who was hanged today, was tortured heavily ahead of his execution. that deaths bring the total number of protesters known to have been executed in the aftermath of the unrest to four. but death sentences are not a new tactic used by iran's regime to oppress our position. the islamic republic has been handing out death sentences to political prisoners for four decades. in the 19805, thousands of protesters were executed summarily. the human rights group amnesty international says it fears at these 26 more people are at greater risk of execution in connection with the process well politicians from around world have widely condemned iran's actions as abhorrent. let's now speak to mohammad ali kadivar, an iranian

political analystjoining us live from boston. thank you forjoining us. firstly, how do you think people are feeling in iran given the current mood in the country? i given the current mood in the count ? ~ , ., , given the current mood in the count ? ~ , ., country? i think people are outraged- _ country? i think people are outraged- i _ country? i think people are outraged. ithink— country? i think people are outraged. i think these - outraged. i think these executions are notjustified for them, executions are notjustified forthem, no executions are notjustified for them, no one believes in these confessions. these are forced confessions under torture. these people wouldn't have access to lawyers, there has been nojudicial process have access to lawyers, there has been no judicial process so people feel outraged and this just further deteriorates the legitimacy that the government has been losing over and over. now, there is an international condemnation. to think that we have much impact? it condemnation. to think that we have much impact?— have much impact? it has not sto ed have much impact? it has not stepped the _ have much impact? it has not stopped the execution - have much impact? it has not stopped the execution so - have much impact? it has not stopped the execution so farl stopped the execution so far but i think the international

community should put as much pressure as they can on iran to stop these executions. in the past we have seen sometimes because of the pressure they have either postponed or cancelled some of these executions but for the people they have executed, four of them are from working class. they have been workers so these are people who have fewer resources in mobilising support within the iranian society so the more support to the international community and people inside iran can provide i can't say it will help but thatis i can't say it will help but that is the least we can do. and do you think there is more they can do economically? clearly sanctions as a tool that the west is used on iran before. as that had the desired effect? 50

before. as that had the desired effect? ., , ., . effect? so far the islamic republic _ effect? so far the islamic republic has _ effect? so far the islamic republic has become - effect? so far the islamic i republic has become more violent so in 2019 there was a very violent crackdown on protesters in the islamic republic is currently under sanctions and there violent so this has not made the islamic republic less violent.- republic less violent. they're havinu republic less violent. they're having to _ republic less violent. they're having to contend _ republic less violent. they're having to contend with - republic less violent. they're having to contend with the i republic less violent. they're i having to contend with the lake of the social media and these videos going viral. is that perhaps a bigger challenge to them then sort of mainly western criticism? the mac can you repeat the question? what makes social media as a challenge for government in iran to keep things in check because videos go viral. is that perhaps a bigger deterrent?— that perhaps a bigger deterrent? ., ., deterrent? social media thing has been a — deterrent? social media thing has been a major _ deterrent? social media thing has been a major driver - deterrent? social media thing has been a major driver of. deterrent? social media thing | has been a major driver of this protest. the government has filtered, with instagram, telegram was filtered before so they are putting more and more restrictions on social media, what the islamic republic is aspiring is to have a national

like the one that china has but they do not have the capacity that china does to provide that kind of infrastructures they've been shutting down the internet. they were making the internet. they were making the internet slower but this has also been bad for a lot of businesses within around that have been using the internet for their businesses so that this is continuing and they do have programmes to restrict the internet even more within the country. internet even more within the count . ~ ., ., country. we will have leave it there. thank _ country. we will have leave it there. thank you _ country. we will have leave it there. thank you very - country. we will have leave it there. thank you very much l country. we will have leave it i there. thank you very much for joining us. thank you very much forjoining us. you are watching bbc news, the headlines: russia has continued to shell eastern ukraine despite calling for a 36 hour ceasefire for 0rthodox christmas celebrations. kevin mccarthy has been sworn in as speaker of the us house of representatives, after 15 rounds of voting. the new speaker says it was the influence of former president trump that helped him secure the position. let's have more on that story: a little earlier i asked democrat strategist,

robin swanson who's in sacramento what she thought of kevin mccarthy becoming he has a gavel but it is unclear that he has much power to go with it. i think taking 14 to go with it. i think taking 1a votes over four days and not getting it until the 15th boat and just taping to the right—wing extremists and the freedom party shows that if it is this hard for him to become speaker can you imagine what concessions he is going to have to make to pass a natural budget for the united states of america? in budget for the united states of america? , , , , america? in sensing because he sort of alluded, _ america? in sensing because he sort of alluded, not _ america? in sensing because he sort of alluded, not a _ america? in sensing because he sort of alluded, not a leader, i sort of alluded, not a leader, quite directly sort of sad that donald trump was quite helpful and was influential and so perhaps he might have to lean on him a few times when he is looking to pass those boats which are a bit tough. i would

democrats be about those comments that you made? i think it is terrifying _ comments that you made? i think it is terrifying if _ comments that you made? i think it is terrifying if donald _ it is terrifying if donald trump is the property for kevin mccarthy. i would say, remember dave and kevin mccarthy worked in the california legislator. going to rewind about 15 years and we had governor arnold schwarzenegger and he built himself, kevin mccarthy billed himself, kevin mccarthy billed himself as a in line with arnolds watson egger and so really see him as someone who is whichever way the wind blows and, at the moment, he sees trump as a power base for him but i don't think he is where the voters are. fin but i don't think he is where the voters are.— the voters are. on those concessions, _ the voters are. on those concessions, and - the voters are. on those concessions, and there i the voters are. on those i concessions, and there are quite a few of them. one of those concessions was to sort of make it easy to unseat him. not something that, you know, people that you speak to feel that may be something that might be used in the near future. ~ , , . ~ .,, might be used in the near future. ~ , , ., ~ .,, ., future. well, speaker has to have power— future. well, speaker has to have power and _ future. well, speaker has to have power and to _ future. well, speaker has to have power and to be - future. well, speaker has to have power and to be a - future. well, speaker has to i have power and to be a leader people have to follow use so it is clear that, from the jump, he does not have people willing to follow him in the second thing i would be very concerned about is the committee. that is the most important thing the speaker can do is assign committee chairs and that power

has been removed so i don't know what powers left him to wield. it seems he speaker in name only. wield. it seems he speaker in name only-— wield. it seems he speaker in name only. the president were to work fairly _ name only. the president were to work fairly closely _ name only. the president were to work fairly closely with - to work fairly closely with him. i do think that relationship is going to pan out? actually think the bigger concern is his relationship with mitch mcconnell on the other side, the united states senate. ultimately the president is going to have to work with both parties and we have a divided congress but mitch mcconnell has a very different leadership style then kevin mccarthy doesn't think it will show how splintered the republican party is if they cannot work together. an italian man has admitted stealing more than a thousand unpublished manuscripts, many written by high—profile authors. filippo bernardini impersonated figures from the publishing industry to trick people into handing over their

works. authors who were targeted include margaret atwood, ian mcewan and sally rooney. bernardini, pleaded guilty in new york to wire fraud, but his motive has never been clear. manuscripts were not found to have been leaked on the internet, nor were any ransom demands made. i'm joined by ginger adams 0tis, a new york based reporter. thank you forjoining us. so tell us a little bit about this story, because it is incredibly ill plotline for a good book, and may be people at home might have not heard. it is and may be people at home might have not heard.— have not heard. it is actually brinus have not heard. it is actually brings to _ have not heard. it is actually brings to mind _ have not heard. it is actually brings to mind one - have not heard. it is actually brings to mind one of - have not heard. it is actually brings to mind one of my - brings to mind one of my favourite authors from south america and it is almost more hazy and how this played out because it is a mystery and an enigma and it went to multiple phases of people within the publishing industry understanding that something was going on but nobody could figure out exactly what. but what we know now is, since roughly august 2016 may have been earlier, were not really sure but at the since then, he

was passing himself off, he was working within the publishing industry and that is a key element to this. he was in the industry. he knew the lingo, he knew the phraseology. he knew the players, and he would create fake domain names and fake e—mails and he would make the domain names very similar to existing big—name publishers and publishing companies or agencies different elements of the publishing industry and he would e—mail people who had access to different manuscripts, different authors, different levels of fame and he would come up with some plausible reason that he should get some of the manuscript of the entire manuscript before publication date and how to phrase things and he knew things were within sight of the process of getting a book published he was pretty successful. it looks like he got over 1000 to manuscripts. eventually, at some point,

people within the industry started to cotton on to something was going on. there was a spy within their midst but nobody knew who it was so it actually change from a whodunnit to a who is doing it and still he is able to carry this on for many years until finally, people figured it out and he was arrested. you got cau~ht and he was arrested. you got caught finally. _ and he was arrested. you got caught finally. his _ and he was arrested. you got caught finally. his motive - caught finally. his motive isn't entirely clear. did he actually make any money from this? ., ., ., ., , actually make any money from this? ., ., ., ., this? know, although as far as we know. _ this? know, although as far as we know. no. _ this? know, although as far as we know, no, and _ this? know, although as far as we know, no, and despite - this? know, although as far as we know, no, and despite of. this? know, although as far as l we know, no, and despite of his deal he does have to pay some restitution. it is not made clear what potentially for wages that he earned while he was acting in a manner that was injurious to various companies. unclear on that but he does have to pay about $80,000. there is no evidence that he ever tried to sell the manuscripts that he got, that he tried to make black—market

deals, that he profited on any person away from this. find person away from this. and there were _ person away from this. and there were concerns - person away from this. and there were concerns some sort of commentators who have been for the thing that i like yourself out there may be copycats of the sort of weightless methods, because actually, if you are able to do that you can probably obtain quite large sums of cash. imagine some had gotten prince harry pass my bow before it leaked out, somebody had gotten hold of that they would have made a mint. 0f hold of that they would have made a mint. of course they probably would have been tracked down much faster but part of what made him successful with this was that he was not shooting for the moon. not looking for a big hit and once people started to get and once people started to get a sense of something here is not on the up the up and up they immediately then went for at these manuscripts popping up in underground markets and in backroom deals and they were not. and that made it much harderfor people to not. and that made it much harder for people to find him and it made a much harder to copy this because unless you had the rationale he doing had,

it for personal gain without too much faster. it it for personal gain without too much faster.— too much faster. it is a curious _ too much faster. it is a curious case, - too much faster. it is a curious case, isn't - too much faster. it is a curious case, isn't it? | too much faster. it is a - curious case, isn't it? thank you very much for talking to us. us. thousands of pilgrims descended on the historic town of lalibela in ethiopia on saturday, to celebrate 0rthodox christmas. it was the first time pilgrims came to the town since the conflict in tigray began in 2020, which disrupted all spheres of life in the country. with a surprise ceasefire declared on november 2nd, citizens have more than one reason to rejoice. the bbc�*s daniel dadzie reports. peace at last after two years of war. thousands of worshippers have travelled from far and near to mark the ancient tradition of 0rthodox christmas in africa's largest christian site. the medieval church as he became a world heritage site in 1978. they important for christians as places of pilgrimage and devotion. but this year, ceremony are special. it is laced with the relief of a country recovering from war.

last year we were in our home crying and normally we always come here for christmas, but i could not come for the last two yea rs. more than the pandemic, the war was scary because it was a massacre that was visible to our naked eyes. i couldn't come and celebrate it because i was afraid. not long ago, it was on the front line of a brutal conflict between government forces and the two tigray people's liberation front. the town changed hands four times during the fighting and miraculously, the ancient churches appear to have been spared the scars of war. there is obvious relief here that a peace deal was signed last november their memories of the war another far away.

my prayer andwishes, our god may grant us freedom for myself and my country. many problems remain, with 2.3 million people still thought to be in need after being cut off from humanitarian aid. but today's ceremony rings with the hope that life will return to normal for ethiopians. if you were a child of the 1970s, the chances are you will have wanted a raleigh chopper. the iconic bike was designed by tom karen, who died a week ago, but his many achievements go well beyond the chopper. helen mulroy has more. it's arguably tom karen's most famous piece. the raleigh chopper, an icon of the �*70s. it was the bike every youngster wanted to find under their christmas tree and its appeal and place in popular culture spanned decades. all right by supergrass plays. it featured in supergrass's 1995 music video, starred

in the chase scene in the movie jumanji. raleigh needed to try and compete with an american bike called the schwinn, which had very curvaceous tubes. whatever we did, it would have a big wheel and a small wheel because the big wheel shows where the power comes from, you know? like dragsters, who had big tyres at the front. the combination of that made the chopper the success it was. the chopper saved raleigh from bankruptcy. 1.5 million of them were sold worldwide. but cambridge designer tom karen didn'tjust design bikes — he was behind the reliant scimitar when he was the managing director at the design house 0gle. he also designed the bond bug, which, after a little bit of tweaking at the 0gle factory in letchworth, became a landspeeder in the 1977 star wars film a new hope.

all these things on display here at the micro museum about tom karen in letchworth garden city. there's even a replica of his cambridge living room. and here, i find josh tidy, who's the curator of this exhibition. josh, sadly, tom passed away on new year's eve but his designs, his legacy will live on forever. yes, absolutely. unintelligible to the breadth and quality of his design really being celebrated on show here. if you are a certain age, he designed half your childhood. but as well as the chopper and the bug and those high—profile things, he really designed all sorts of everything, from lorries for leland, vans, he designed a popemobile for the visit ofjohn paul ii in 1984. he designed for four decades but really struggled to retire. he described himself as having a butterfly mind that never stopped. a huge body of work under and a real legacy there. another one of his designs you certainly will probably remember, the 1970s marble run — a toy that, 50 years on,

continues to delight children even now. helen mulroy, bbc news. time to have a look at the weather with stav danaos. 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 0rthodox christmas celebrations. president volodymyr zelensky

said vladimir putin's offer of a truce, now ended, was deceitful.