this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: international travellers are streaming into china after it fully opened its borders for the first time since the start of the covid pandemic. translation: downgrading covid doesn't mean letting it rip. - rather, we are more scientific, targeted and efficient in our response. uk prime minister rishi sunak says he's willing to discuss pay with the nurses�* union to settle strikes but there's no commitment to increase salaries. 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. the ukrainian military has rejected a russian claim that hundreds of ukrainian soldiers were killed in an attack

on the city of kramatorsk. in his latest television interview, prince harry reveals that he felt guilty for being unable to show any emotion in public after the death of his mother. international travellers have been streaming into china after it fully opened its borders for the first time since the start of the covid pandemic. people arriving in the country no longer need to quarantine and chinese citizens are once again allowed to go overseas. there have been emotional reunions at airports and the mainland's border with hong kong. this latest lifting of coronavirus restrictions coincides with the country's busiest travel season marking the lunar new year. martin yip is at that border between mainland china and hong kong.

china has been rapidly de—escalating these covid—i9 control measures, literally walking away from what used to be called zero—covid policy. so if you wonder how rapid we are talking about, two things that happened today on the other side of this bridge might give you some clue. macau, the only place in china that could let you gamble inside a casino treats covid—i9 from today as an endemic disease. that means it's something more or less like a cold orflu, you don't need to report yourself to the authorities if you get it, and you are very unlikely to be quarantined or other measures to be imposed on you. martin yip on the border between china and hong kong. earlier i spoke to rana mitter — director of the university of oxford's china centre. he told me what he made of the speed of the change. i suspect now that many

observers will think that this has been in the works actually for a few weeks. the number of cases that was rising in china, the number of covid cases that simply couldn't be controlled by the zero—covid lockdown policy was almost certainly becoming so great that the change would have had to come within the next couple of months anyway. but the protests, you will remember a month ago there were protests on the street in china, really very rare indeed, and they were also being encouraged by social media, would probably have pushed the chinese government into changing the policy even more swiftly. in that context it helps them to get to where they want to go, which is to take people's attention away from covid and instead towards growing the economy which they want to be the china story of 2023. how much do you think it is the economic cost to china and how much is at the protests we have been witnessing? i think that overall the protests could have been suppressed, and indeed probably were in terms

of the immediate aftermath by the police, the censorship of social media, and the other tools china has that most of big societies don't because they are more democratic. i think overall the economic story and concern over that is very real. china has something like 20% youth unemployment, and that's been exacerbated by covid but also being pushed by factors well beyond that, such as the effects of the famous one—child policy. that ended about seven years ago but the aftermath is still felt on the effect means china is getting old and much more quickly, but without having created the kind of pension or welfare schemes that richer countries like the uk or south korea orjapan have done. it is those medium to longer term stories that i think are really worrying the chinese government now even more than covid in the longer term and why they are so fixated on building the economy up as fast as possible. and for xijinping himself, he's put himself in this position where he is the de facto leader, just in such a strong, powerful position when it comes to china.

but is there a potential that if the cases increase, if the deaths increase, he could be in a precarious position, or is thatjust a given that a he will rule for the rest of his duration? i think realistically he is pretty safe. first of all at the party congress a few weeks ago in october he managed to replace pretty much all of the other top leaders, the top seven in the leadership, including himself, with people who he has pretty much hand—picked so the top leadership owe theirjob is to him and will not let that go lightly. beyond that there is also the possibility of even using social media to blame the protesters, saying, look, this is what the protesters wanted and that's why covid increased. in a weird way the chinese communist party may be able to turn the protests on their perpetrators to put forward a new message that any rise in disease is not the fault of the leadership but the fault of the protests. professor rana mitter from the university of oxford. 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. our political correspondent damian grammaticas reports. a health service in urgent need of care itself claims hundreds are dying each week because of delays means this is perhaps the most pressing issue for the prime minister. the first question for rishi sunak, is this a crisis? the nhs is undeniably under enormous pressure. until now, his government has said it won't talk to nursing unions directly about pay. that is done by a pay body. now he says a discussion can happen, though only it seems about future years. 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. it is about the year we are about to start. is it not the financial year 23—24? they want to talk about pay this year. we are about to have that conversation. when it comes to pay, it's not appropriate for those conversations happen in public.

a glimmer of something for unions that will meet the health secretary tomorrow but not enough to stop strikes about the pay nurses are getting this year. there was a chink of optimism, there was a little shift in what the prime minister was saying, but what the government want to talk about tomorrow is pay moving forward. and in the broadest terms. and that is not going to avert the strike action planned for ten days�* time. with many waiting days now to see a family doctor on the nhs, the prime minister was asked if he is signed up to private medical care. were you registered with a private gp and are you still? yeah, but my dad was a doctor and i grew up in an nhs family. that was not my question. it's really straightforward. were you registered with a private gp? and are you still? as a general policy, i would not talk about me or my family's personal health care situation.

it is not relevant in this. what is relevant is the difference i can make to the country. but it is relevant, say the unions and his political opponents, who say it would be the honest thing, too. i thought the prime minister gave the impression of someone who not only doesn't use the nhs but doesn't understand the scale of the challenges or have a plan to deal with the fundamental problems, because yes, he can get people around the table in number 10 for a photo opportunity, do more sticking plasters to get us through this winter, but we need fundamental change in the nhs to deal with what is the biggest crisis in its history, and that is what labour is looking to do. as long as the government won't talk about giving health workers any more pay now, saying the state of public finances doesn't allow it and the need to control inflation is vital, then more strikes are coming. ambulance staff this week, nurses and maybe doctors after that. let's get more from our health editor, hugh pym. of health editor, hugh pym. course, were not talking breakthrough

of course, were not talking about a breakthrough here but can you help us to understand what has changed in terms of what we've been seeing? in the mac well, it will wheel revolves around which financial year we are talking about here. now, the unions have been protesting and striking over the pay award already in their pay packets of between four and 5% for this current financial year ending in march. and that is the case in england, the welsh government followed, it is a different scenario altogether in scotland and northern ireland has with a similar type of pay awards so the action is all over will you push that up for this financial year and “p that up for this financial year and up until now, the government has said no, will only talk about the next financial year started in april and assented we might be more generous. it and assented we might be more uenerous. , , ., ., , ., generous. it seems to have shifted a tin bit generous. it seems to have shifted a tiny bit today — generous. it seems to have shifted a tiny bit today is _ generous. it seems to have shifted a tiny bit today is the _ generous. it seems to have shifted a tiny bit today is the prime _ generous. it seems to have shifted a tiny bit today is the prime minister i tiny bit today is the prime minister saying that talks are due to take place in london at westminster on monday mightjust include a better discussion about this year's

financial settlement so unions are a bit more optimistic and hoping that can be addressed. i think some of the sceptics out there will feel that the position up until now rishi su nak and his government speaking about england in terms of health has been we will only really talk about what we might give you four maple so a lot hinges on these talks. fit, lat a lot hinges on these talks. a lot depending _ a lot hinges on these talks. a lot depending on — a lot hinges on these talks. a lot depending on the _ a lot hinges on these talks. a lot depending on the talks - a lot hinges on these talks. a lot depending on the talks and is there any chance of any kind of settlement on monday is thatjust too early? well, i think on monday is thatjust too early? well, ithink it on monday is thatjust too early? well, i think it is highly unlikely. i've been speaking to union sources and they say their ambulance strikes planned for wednesday. it is highly unlikely that enough will be sad at the meeting to stop and those are going ahead. i think unions want to be convinced that ministers really are serious about talking about this

not trying to push everything into what might happen after april and that should be pretty clear but i suppose you can never rule out the chance of the strikes being called off. nasa strikes are happening a bit later injanuary but it is possible that they could be a move forward but still quite a lot of doubt out that i think.- forward but still quite a lot of doubt out that i think. thank you very much _ doubt out that i think. thank you very much for— doubt out that i think. thank you very much for the _ doubt out that i think. thank you very much for the time _ doubt out that i think. thank you very much for the time being. i doubt out that i think. thank you . very much for the time being. thank you. the ukrainian military has rejected a russian claim that hundreds of ukrainian soldiers were killed in a russian attack on the city of kramatorsk. hugo bachega is in kyiv with the latest. earlier today the russian defence ministry claimed, without providing any evidence, that a massive missile attack targeted two facilities in the eastern city of kramatorsk. they were housing hundreds of ukrainian soldiers. a statement the russian authorities said that more than 600 ukrainian forces had been killed. again, they provide no evidence to support this claim. again, they provided no evidence to support this claim. they said this attack was in retaliation for that massive attack last weekend that killed dozens of russian forces. a ukrainian attack targeting

a building in the occupied town of makiivka in the eastern donetsk region. and the russian authorities have confirmed that 89 were killed. and the russian authorities have confirmed that 89 soldiers were killed. the ukrainians had said that up to 400 russian soldiers had been killed as a result of that attack. this was an attack that sparked lots of criticism in russia, and now today, a week after that attack, the russians are claiming that a similar attack targeting a building in the east of the country killed 600 ukrainian soldiers. the ukrainians are rejecting it, a spokesman for the ukrainian army told us this information was false, and it was another piece of russian propaganda. hugo bachega with the latest on those lines from kyiv. hundreds of protesters have arrived in trafalgar square in london in solidarity with anti—government demonstrations in iran. some held banners with the faces of protesters killed by the regime. it comes after two men were hanged

in iran for killing a member of the security forces during last year's protests. earlier, i spoke to khosro isfahani who is an iran analyst at bbc monitoring. last night two women removed their hijabs holding placards with the names of these two young men written on them, mohammad mahdi karami and seyed mohammad hosseini. there has been an outcry on social media with people from different backgrounds condemning these executions. these two men were sentenced to death in a court proceeding that only took a week. and today this afternoon this video emerged out of iran from mohammad karami's grave, and his mother, this woman shrivelled with pain, is crying over her son's grave.

this video has gone viral on twitter. this pain echoes with many people inside the country. since the protests started the regime has killed more than 517 people. 70 children were among them. prince harry has revealed that he felt guilty about being unable to show any emotion in public, after the death of his mother, princess diana. in a new interview for itv promoting his memoir, the duke of sussex, who was 12 at the time, says he only cried once, when she was laid to rest. 0ur royal correspondent

daniela relph reports. memories of diana princess of wales, and the anguish and grief of her son at her death, are at the heart of prince harry's memoir, spare. in the first of his television interviews, to be shown this evening, he describes the days after her death and, as a 12—year—old, how he viewed the public response. everyone knows where they were and what they were doing the night my mother died. i cried once, at the burial. i go into detail about how strange it was and how actually there was some guilt that i felt, and i think william felt as well, by walking around the outside of kensington palace. there were 50,000 bouquets of flowers to our mother, and there we were,

shaking people's hands, smiling. i've seen the videos, right? i've looked back over it all. and the wet hands that we were shaking — we couldn't understand why their hands were wet, but it was all the tears they were wiping away. the television interviews were supposed to be the first time we heard some of the detail of harry's book, but when it accidentally went on sale early in spain last thursday, we got an earlier than planned look at spare. drugs, sex and bitter family fallout — there has been little holding back. but again and again, he returns to the devastating death of his mother and the impact on him and prince william. everyone thought and felt like they knew our mum. and the two closest people to her, the two most loved people by her, were unable to show any emotion in that moment. buckingham palace will be watching what harry has to say in the coming days.

but, for now, there is no official response — a position that is unlikely to change. daniela relph, bbc news. earlier i spoke with doctor nathalie weidhase, lecturer in media and communication at the university of surrey, and she told me more about the shift to a celebrity image that the duke of sussex has made. i think it's important to keep in mind that most royals so, we see the very curated instagram accounts, they give selected interviews, etc. but obviously meghan and harry were doing royal work for most of the time when they started their lives as royals. and while they were doing that work, they were obviously compensated through the sovereign grant. but once they left the royal family and moved to canada and then america, they had to obviously reconsider how they funded their lifestyle. and that's when we see that very explicit shift perhaps towards more conventional hollywood celebrity strategies.

we see the podcasts, we see the confessional interviews, we see the sort of the netflix show as well. that gives us much more of that sort of very personal life in order to sort of for them to craft their new celebrity image in that line in order to fund their future lifestyle, really. so they're thinking their future proofing, i guess, what's their future years, i'm assuming that's what you mean. just in terms of the amount of coverage that we've been seeing generated, not least from the netflix series, but now we've got the memoir, we've got the itv interview as well. i just wonder what you make of how the shift is slightly changed, i guess, because when after the netflix interview, meghan received a lot of negative publicity from it, but now it feels like the target is harry. and i think even using a word like target, it seems that it's very focused in in a negative way. ijust wonder what your thoughts are on this.

yes. so as you said, we saw the sort of the negative attacks on meghan markle during the netflix interview, but now it's very much shifted towards harry and we see a similar sort of personal attacks. he's often... the palace source quote of him as a traitor, or seen as a traitor, sort of mobilized a lot. he's he's described as as weak and whiny. and that is perhaps a way of sort of deflecting from the wider potential for a crisis that is often also mentioned at the same time, because if you focus on the individual, you don't have to sort of think about the wider implications that that might have for the institution of the monarchy. and just in terms of the of course, we're waiting for the book to be the memoir to be released. yet i know in spain it's got a little bit of an early release date, so to speak, but we're waiting for it to to be released. but are you aware that any parts of this book could potentially have political consequences? ijust wonder, just in terms of the constitutional impact or political consequences

of of what we are expecting to hear from the memoir to some degree, any sort of what we would perhaps call family drama. so some of the revelations obviously could be classified as that, always have some sort of national or political interest in a hereditary monarchy, because it's the family that determines the line of succession. and they determine then obviously the head of state for the uk. but i think it's important to sort of differentiate slightly between what we could consider perhaps family squabbles, and the sort of more substantial, for example, allegations of of violence or the allegations of a violent temper. and that obviously raises questions around sort of the suitability for, for leadership. but i think when we think about political consequences, the question is, what would that mean? because in very real terms, that perhaps... any sort of real impact would perhaps look at, you know, avoiding that in the future through an elected head of state. but as long as we're not having that

type of conversation, i don't think there are going to be massive political consequences. many businesses are going through difficult times — and the brewing industry is one sector that is struggling, with production costs soaring and beer sales in pubs falling. at least one small independent brewery a week in the uk closed during 2022 and many others are fearful of what this new year will bring, as our wales correspondent, hywel griffith explains. it should be a time when glasses are at least half full for britain's brewers, but a slump in sales this festive season, coupled with ever—rising costs, means some are being drained of optimism. rob hope's 2023 will see him celebrate a decade of making beer, but he's worried. he's already had to lose seven employees in the last 12 months, leaving just him to brew

with the help of his son. the cost of grain and energy is set to go up again. we can't put the price up on a barrel, really, because we are at the top end of what's acceptable, and unless something else changes between now and april, i'm going to face a grain rise and then my energy contract is going to change and then i'm like... 0ur thirst for locally produced craft ales has grown massively over the last decade. it has become a £1 billion industry in the uk. but the cost of living crisis means customers are more cautious with their cash. people aren't going out as much as they used to. there's less money flowing through bars like this one. i mean, a lot of people during covid got used to drinking at home, where they could buy cheaper beers from the supermarket and be in the comfort of their home, and i think a lot of people are still doing that. the pandemic pushed forward

big changes in our beer drinking. as pub sales declined, cans and bottles were bought online instead. at this brewery in pembrokeshire, they are trying their best to diversify and weather the storm, but it's tough. we are trying to sell online or direct from the shop here, but everybody is struggling with the cost of living. the treasury says it recognises these are tough times, but help is being given on energy, fuel and business rate costs, as well as an extension on the alcohol duty freeze until next august. but brewers say they need more support, and soon, to help see them through this winter. hywel griffith, bbc news. thousands of pilgrims have descended on the historic town 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 second. 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. daniel dadzie, bbc news. much more on our website so do check

that out. much more detail and context. get in touch with me on social media. i will be back in half an hour. good evening. it certainly has been a sunday of sunny spells and scattered showers. but don't take my word for it, take a look at this weather watcher picture, a beautiful rainbow in the sky of cornwall, but wet weather on the roads as those showers eased through. there's going to be further showers to come actually over the next couple of days. and overnight, we still keep the low pressure to the north. most of the showers out to the west. but for a time, we will see some clearer skies. favoured spots for that's likely to be through eastern scotland and eastern england. and under those clearer skies, temperatures are likely to fall away. so it'll be a chillier start to monday morning in comparison to of late, low single figures here. so, we start off on monday,

still that low pressure into the far northwest, the wind direction swinging round to a northwesterly, a fresher source, that'll drive plenty of showers into northern and western scotland, northern ireland, northwest england and wales. some of those showers will push a little bit further east, but that's where we'll see the best of the drier, brighter weather. a cooler feel generally then, 6 to 8 degrees quite widely. we mightjust scrape double figures somewhere in the southwest. then as we go through monday evening for a time, we'll have clearer skies. but out to the west is the next set of fronts is going to bring more cloud and rain as it does so. and that means we will start to see those temperatures then a little bit milder to begin with on tuesday morning. so for tuesday, it's going to be a wet and windy day for many as these frontal systems start to push their way steadily north and east, and we'll start to see this wedge of milder air arriving as we go through the day. so, tuesday will be a milder day with the wind direction swinging round to a south—westerly, quite a lot of cloud around, quite wet at times. maybe in the cooler air there'll be a period of snow, but then that eases to rain

as the mild air pushes in. and it's going to be a windy afternoon, 30 to a0 mile an hour gusts of winds for many. and those temperatures, though, look at this, back up into double figures. we could see highs of ia degrees in the southwest. so, tuesday will be mild, wet and windy. what's in store for wednesday? well, those frontal systems will ease away. we still keep quite a few isobars on the chart. again, the winds swing round to more of a westerly, so it won't be quite as warm. and because it's a westerly direction, still feeding in showers from the west. so throughout the week, it's going to stay pretty windy at times and staying quite unsettled.

this is bbc world news, the headlines international travellers are streaming into china after it fully opened its borders for the first time since the start of the covid pandemic. people arriving in the country no longer need to quarantine and chinese citizens are allowed to go overseas. uk prime minister rishi sunak says he's willing to discuss the issue of pay with the nurses' union to settle strikes. but he didn't make a firm commitment to increase salaries. the ukrainian military has rejected a russian claim that hundreds of ukrainian soldiers were killed in a russian attack on the city of kramatorsk. moscow said it was revenge for a strike on one of its own barracks. in his latest television interview, prince harry reveals that he felt guilty for being unable to show any emotion in public after the death of his mother, princess diana.

he says he only cried once.