this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. these are the latest headlines. uk prime minister rishi sunak says he's willing to discuss the issue of pay with the nurses�* union to settle strikes but didn't make a firm commitment to increase salaries. and when it comes to pay we've always said we want to talk about things that are reasonable, that are affordable and responsible for the country. china lifts quarantine rules for people arriving from abroad, for the first time in three years. downgrading covid doesn't mean letting it rip. downgrading covid doesn't mean letting it rip. we are more targeted, efficient in our response. iran faces international condemnation after executing two more anti—government protesters.

at least one person is killed as russia bombs ukrainian cities overnight, minutes after its self—imposed ceasefire ended. tens of thousands of orthodox christians in ethiopia celebrate christmas at churches in the historic town of lalibela for the first time since the conflict in tigray began in 2020. the uk prime minister rishi sunak has given his first tv interview of the year to the bbc�*s laura kuennsberg. mr sunak addressed concerns over nurses�* strikes and said he will talk to the royal college of nursing union about pay but does not commit to increasing wages now to end their strike action.

he also defended his economic policies as being deeply conservative. our political correspondent damian grammaticas has been listening to what the prime minister has been saying. what struck you about what he was saying? the dilemma that the government has, huge pressures on the health service, nurses are deeply unhappy about their levels of pay, they say they have been falling behind for ten years. taking strike action for the first time in 100 years. the key question is will the government come up with more money, theissue government come up with more money, the issue the nurses are arguing about is this current year extending to april of this current year. that is why they are on strike, they want more money. the government says it is prepared to talk about next year,

the next financial year. the prime minister was pressed today, this is the exchange. i want to be really clear, it is a yes or no answer, if you can. will you talk to nurses about increasing pay this year, yes or no? we are about to start that process. that is about next year? no, it is literary about the year we are about to start. is that not the financial year 23, 24? they want to talk about pay this year. we are about to have the conversation. when it comes to pay, it is not appropriate for those conversations to happen in public. he is not talk about the heart of the dispute. the fact that he is willing to start thinking about pay for next year, is something i think a little bit of progress.— a little bit of progress. what has been the response? _

a little bit of progress. what has been the response? the - a little bit of progress. what has been the response? the nursingi been the response? the nursing union's leader _ been the response? the nursing union's leader was _ been the response? the nursing union's leader was listening, - been the response? the nursing| union's leader was listening, she described it as a sliver of light, there could be the start of a back—and—forth over pay but the difficulty that he has is it does not address the concerns right now. sir this is not about nurses pay and it is not addressing the issues that are in dispute. addressing the pay of 2324. are in dispute. addressing the pay of 232a. we will put our case but what the government want to talk about tomorrow is pay moving forward and in the broadest terms. that is not going to avert the strike action thatis not going to avert the strike action that is planned. . it is not rishi sunak who is involved with this, it is his spokesperson who will sit down and

talk with the unions. lots of other things to pick up on in that interview. 0ne things to pick up on in that interview. one that is always a tricky issue for prime ministers is theissue tricky issue for prime ministers is the issue of private health care. while these issues are going on with the health_ while these issues are going on with the health service, people are waiting — the health service, people are waiting weeks to get an appointment, many weeks to get a treatment in hospital— many weeks to get a treatment in hospital or— many weeks to get a treatment in hospital or operations. is he and his own — hospital or operations. is he and his own family paying for private health _ his own family paying for private health care? are they able to access health— health care? are they able to access health care — health care? are they able to access health care quickly. while he is obviously— health care quickly. while he is obviously steering the government with the _ obviously steering the government with the unions. are you registered with a private gp? my dad was a doctor... i grew up in an nhs family. that wasn't the question, were you registered with a private gp? as a general policy, i would not talk about my family's health care, it is not relevant, what is relevant is the difference i can make to the country.

prime minister, i think there is huge public interest in the decision that you make. actually one of your predecessors, who you admire very much, and margaret thatcher said very openly that she decided to use her right as a free citizen to spend my money in my own way so i can go on the day at the time i want and see the doctor and she was proud to talk about the decision she made. why won't you tell people about the decisions you made? it is a personal choice. it is about health care, it is private. let us take a step back to the wider issue of strikes. various workers are out on strike in the uk. where is your sense of where we are going? i think in this health sector, right across it, yes there are more strikes coming. strike this week by

ambulance workers, in ten days' time those nursing unions are due to go out on strike. that seems to be going ahead unless the government shifts on pay this year. looking further ahead, shifts on pay this year. looking furtherahead, more shifts on pay this year. looking further ahead, more doctors and health service, why do strikes on the railways too. there is no sign that there is much movement in there, looking ahead. a season of strikes looks likely.— there, looking ahead. a season of strikes looks likely. thank you very much. for the first time in nearly three years, china has lifted quarantine rules for people arriving from abroad. it's the final step in the government's dismantling of its zero—covid policies. the abrupt change has driven a rapid rise in coronavirus cases and has prompted other countries to impose restrictions on chinese tourists. tens of thousands of people gathered at border crossings between hong kong and the mainland on sunday to take advantage of the latest relaxation. speaking a short while ago,

china's national health commission spokesperson mi feng said that the relaxing of measures doesn't mean that the country is relaxing its approach to the disease. translation: from today, - we categorise and manage covid as a class b infectious disease. our focus has pivoted from preventing infection to protecting health and preventing severe cases. downgrading covid doesn't mean letting it rip. rather, we are more scientific, targeted and efficient in our response. we can do better in coordinating pandemic response and social economic development. tens of thousands of people gathered at border crossings between hong kong and the mainland on sunday to take advantage of the latest relaxation. here's what some of them had to say. translation: i'm so happy, so happy, so excited. - i haven't seen my parents for many years. my parents aren't in good health

and i couldn't go back to see them even when they were ill, so i'm really happy to go back and see them now. i can't wait to go back to the mainland. it's been three years. we have no time to delay now the boarder is unimpeded. last time i came to hong kong i had to wait for two weeks. _ in the end, i had no choice but to go back to turkey . because i couldn't enter china. the bbc�*s martin yip has been monitoring movement on the border between hong kong and mainland china. he told us that there are still are certain conditions for travellers entering mainland china. you have to produce a valid test result, a pcr test with a negative result over the past 48 hours before they could go into that terminal, go through immigration and get onto the bus. i just saw a couple taking five or six suitcases between them, they

ended up waiting outside because they say their test results are yet to arrive on their phones. so, there are still restrictions here but like you said, it's like a big open day today, notjust opening up china's border, signs that you don't need to be quarantined any more and you will not be tested as you arrive, you just need to produce a test result, when you reach any checkpoints here to go over. for hong kong and macau there are still restrictions which is the quota system. each way there are some 50,000 people will be allowed to cross the border from today, each day. 50,000 up and 50,000 down. today doesn't seem to be a day when the quotas have been used up, not that easy as it used to be before the pandemic. but it is a start.

joining me now from shanghai is keith bradsher, beijing bureau chief for the new york times. the loosening of restrictions gone? international travel is actually not starting that quickly. while china has abandoned the eight day or longer quarantine for international arrivals, they used to have two or three week quarantines. it has not allowed a lot of international flights yet. the international flights yet. the international flights will not start on a large scale until the start of april. for example thailand had 400 flights a week with china before the pandemic started and right now it is 15 flights per week. there is a gradual

restart, the focus is on restarting domestic flights and rail travel. getting people moving so they can go home for the new year holiday. that is often described as the human migration on the planet. it is a vast movement of people. how concerned are the authorities in china about that? the concerned are the authorities in china about that?— concerned are the authorities in china about that? the focus has shifted from _ china about that? the focus has shifted from trying _ china about that? the focus has shifted from trying to _ china about that? the focus has shifted from trying to control i china about that? the focus has i shifted from trying to control covid to trying to get families together again. there is very little discussion by the authorities on the risks that there might be in terms of people bringing the virus to villagers. many villagers have elderly people who have stayed behind whilst younger people moved to the cities. the focus is not so

much on the health effect of this new year travel but there has been a lot of discussion on how they hope that villagers can try and prepare for cases. many of these villagers don't have intensive care beds, they don't have intensive care beds, they don't have intensive care beds, they don't have hospitals, they only have basic clinics and there is concern about what will happen if there is a lot of travel into the villages. what about criticism? leading up to the loosening of the restrictions we did see a pretty unusual amount of criticism of the authorities in china. what about now? moise criticism of the authorities in china. what about now? now the criticism seems _ china. what about now? now the criticism seems to _ china. what about now? now the criticism seems to be _ china. what about now? now the criticism seems to be in - china. what about now? now the criticism seems to be in a - china. what about now? now the i criticism seems to be in a different direction which is why was there not more preparation of the health system so that... for example why was there not more stockpiling of ibuprofen before just happened?

was there not more stockpiling of ibuprofen beforejust happened? even doctors had trouble getting more than a few tablets of ibuprofen. also, people were asking why was so much energy spent on putting booths every few blocks in cities. instead of expanding hospital capacity to treat the sick when the policy changed. treat the sick when the policy chanced. ~ �* ., treat the sick when the policy chanced. ~ �* . ., ~ changed. we'll leave it there, thank ou ve changed. we'll leave it there, thank you very much _ changed. we'll leave it there, thank you very much for — changed. we'll leave it there, thank you very much for talking _ changed. we'll leave it there, thank you very much for talking to - changed. we'll leave it there, thank you very much for talking to us. - to west africa, where 38 people have died in central senegal when two buses crashed into each other on sunday. the serious accident took place near the town of kaffrine, leaving 87 people injured from the collision. the crash is one of the heaviest death tolls from a single incident in recent years. ukrainian officials say at least one

person was killed as russian bombing of cities continued overnight. minutes after the supposed ceasefire ended, the north—east region of kharkiv came under attack. in a further development, russian media has claimed two thermal power plants were attacked by ukrainian forces in the russian—controlled donetsk region. with the latest, here's our ukraine correspondent hugo bachego in kyiv. ukrainian officials say russia continued to attack cities over after the end of that ceasefire that was announced by russia to coincide with 0rthodox christmas. kharkiv, a region in the north—east of the country, came under attack apparently minutes after the end of that truce. the governor said one man was killed and he accused russia of terrorising the civilian population. people were still celebrating 0rthodox christmas last night. now, officials have also reported explosions in the southern cities of zaporizhzhia

and melitopol, and in the eastern city of kramatorsk. and in the east, fighting continued even during the truce, especially around the town of bakhmut, which has seen some intense fighting in recent weeks. and the authorities said one person was killed. last night president zelensky said that the fact the russian forces continued to attack ukrainian positions during this alleged ceasefire was proof that moscow's words are false. he also said the peace would only be restored when russian forces were expelled from his country. this morning, russian appointed officials in the east of the country have said that two power stations in donetsk were hit by ukrainian rocket attacks. the ukrainian authorities haven't reacted to this claim. they rarely issue statements about possible attacks on russian positions in russian—controlled territory.

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. let's speak now to our colleague khosro isfahaanee iran analyst at bbc monitoring. please tell us more about the executions. these two men were in their early 20s, they were sentenced to death during court proceedings that took a one week and they were deprived of the right to choose their own lawyers during the proceedings. in addition, when they were sentenced the supreme court held up the sentences and they knew they would

face imminent execution. they were deprived of the right to meet with their families deprived of the right to meet with theirfamilies before deprived of the right to meet with their families before they were executed. 0ne their families before they were executed. one of them, his family was literally outside the prison the day he was executed and they were not allowed in to meet their son for a last meeting. not allowed in to meet their son for a last meeting-— a last meeting. some chilling details. what— a last meeting. some chilling details. what about - a last meeting. some chilling details. what about the - a last meeting. some chilling details. what about the aim i a last meeting. some chillingl details. what about the aim of a last meeting. some chilling - details. what about the aim of all this? part of the aim for the regime is to act as a deterrent to stop people protesting. will that work? the regime, so far has killed 517 people on the streets. 70 children were among these people. they have already executed for people in relation to process. in every one of these killings, anger and rage have built up in the country. we see this

anger and rage boiling in iran and every funeral is being turned into a rallying point. right now thousands of protesters are in jail. the numbers could be around 20,000 people. at least 100 of them can face the death penalty. but people are still not relenting, last night we saw videos with people holding up two women, holding up placards with these two men who were executed yesterday. 0n these two men who were executed yesterday. on friday we saw protests in south—east iran, populated by an ethnic minority with people holding signs saying silence is slavery. iranians are not relenting despite

the state's cruelty.— the state's cruelty. thank you for brinuain the state's cruelty. thank you for bringing us _ the state's cruelty. thank you for bringing us up — the state's cruelty. thank you for bringing us up to _ the state's cruelty. thank you for bringing us up to date _ the state's cruelty. thank you for bringing us up to date with - the state's cruelty. thank you for bringing us up to date with thosej bringing us up to date with those protests in iran. thank you. military helicopters in western australia have airlifted more than 200 people cut off by devastating floods. the crisis in kimberley was caused by heavy rain brought by a former tropical cyclone. the state's emergency services minister described the damage as a �*once in a century event�* with flood waters stretching for 50 kilometres in some areas. rainfall has eased across the catchment with the movement of ex—tropical cyclone ellie towards the nt border. flooding is adversely affecting a number of roads in the fitzroy river catchment. many roads are impassable and many communities are now isolated. we have rescued, evacuated or relocated 233 people from floodwaters and responded to 54 incidents, requests for assistance. an american woman who was

convicted two decades ago of spying for cuba has been released from jail in texas. now aged sixty—five, ana montes passed on classified information throughout her career as an intelligence analyst. she pleaded guilty to espionage, saying she�*d been motivated by opposition to us policy in latin america. thousands of pilgrims have descended on the historic town of lalibela in ethiopia, to celebrate 0rthodox christmas. it was the first time pilgrims went to the town since the conflict in tigray began in 2020, which disrupted life in the country. a surprise ceasefire was declared on november 2nd. 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 custom of 0rthodox christmas in africa�*s largest christian site. the medieval rock churches here at lalibela became

a world heritage site in 1978. they are important for christians as places of pilgrimage and devotion. but this year�*s ceremony is special. it�*s laced with the relief of a country recovering from war. translation: last year- we were in our home crying. i normally always come here for christmas, but i couldn�*t come for the last two years. 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, lalibela was on the front line of the brutal conflict between government forces and the 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,

though memories of the war are never far away. translation: my prayer and wish is 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. french beauty industry giant l�*oreal has unveiled a smart applicator at the consumer electronics show in las vegas to help those with limited mobility apply make—up. ika ba koyi reports.

l�*oreal has launched a make—up applicator with a difference. to help those with limited mobility. i help those with limited mobility. i have mobility issues, my hands are limited. , ., , have mobility issues, my hands are limited. , . , ., ., ., limited. ten years ago i had a stroke.--- _ limited. ten years ago i had a stroke,... dirt _ limited. ten years ago i had a stroke,... dirt smart - limited. ten years ago i had a l stroke,... dirt smart applicator limited. ten years ago i had a - stroke,... dirt smart applicator was concealed at _ stroke,... dirt smart applicator was concealed at the _ stroke,... dirt smart applicator was concealed at the consumer - stroke,... dirt smart applicator was. concealed at the consumer electronic show to help those with limited mobility to apply make—up. the mobility to apply make-up. the technology _ mobility to apply make-up. the technology is — mobility to apply make—up. rug technology is for mobility to apply make—up. ij'ye; technology is for people mobility to apply make—up. tye; technology is for people that have motor skill challenges. this is one in ten people in the united states. that is 43 million people in the united states that cannot experience with their own arms because of issues like stroke.— with their own arms because of issues like stroke. another device showcased _ issues like stroke. another device showcased by _ issues like stroke. another device showcased by l'oreal_ issues like stroke. another device showcased by l'oreal uses - issues like stroke. another device - showcased by l'oreal uses augmented showcased by l�*oreal uses augmented reality to draw the perfect

eyebrows. it is apparently easy pc. you first turn on the application, it will scan my face... and then measure the geometry of my face and find my eyebrows. once it finds my brow, it will then give me a recommended shape that i can see in augmented reality. but recommended shape that i can see in augmented reality.— augmented reality. but with the rice augmented reality. but with the price range _ augmented reality. but with the price range between _ augmented reality. but with the price range between 149 - - augmented reality. but with the| price range between 149 - $199, augmented reality. but with the - price range between 149 - $199, the price range between 149 — $199, the applicators aren�*t the cost of the average lipstick, it may not fit in your handbag but it would be welcome for sure. your handbag but it would be welcome forsure. plenty your handbag but it would be welcome for sure. plenty more details of the newest gadgets and inventions on our

website. you can reach me on twitter. this is the news. goodbye. hello. we are looking at a blustery day of sunshine and showers. there are lots of downpours to come through. it has also been windy, the area of low pressure is responsible. this thick cloud is bringing heavy rain, meanwhile early this morning we have seen some strong winds in the far west of scotland. we had gusts of up to 76 mph in the western isles, 60 mile an hour gusts in stornoway. those wins combining with high tides are bringing flood warnings by the scottish environment protection in agency. meanwhile in

england and wales we have several flood warnings on account of the heavy rain over recent days. some of the roads are suffering with large puddles in places. things are getting worse as these bands of rain are rattling away across the skies. temperatures are ranging from eight to 10 celsius, that is above average forjanuary, overnight showers will continue to move quickly from west to east but later in the night the winds will calm down and that will allow temperatures to drop a little bit lower than last night. we could even have patches of frost in deep valleys in scotland. tomorrow it is another showery day, the bulk of the showers coming in across scotland and northern ireland, elsewhere one or two showers around but a bit more in the way of sunshine to look forward to compared with the last couple of days, temperatures not

changing much but not feeling quite as chilly given that the winds are not strong. tuesday there is another area of low pressure coming from the atlantic, another wet and windy day but we will see a bit of snowfall in the high of scotland. there is what drew the scottish ski resorts will benefit. before milder air pushes in and there�*s no turns back to rain. across england and wales, a mile day, 14 celsius for some, that is above average and the rest of the week is unsettled, expect more rain and more strong winds.

this is bbc news. i�*m lewis vaughanjones and these are the headlines. prime minister rishi sunak says he�*s willing to discuss the issue of pay with the nurses�* union to settle strikes but didn�*t make a firm commitment to increase salaries. china has fully opened its borders for the first time since the start of the covid pandemic with international travellers no longer having to quarantine on arrival. at least one person is killed as russia bombs ukrainian cities overnight, minutes after its self—imposed ceasefire ended.

ukraine reportedly retaliated by attacking two thermal power