this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm luxmy gopal. the headlines: the head of russia's wagner group claims its forces now surround most of bakhmut — the eastern ukrainian city that's been the focus of intense fighting. the head of the united nations nuclear watchdog, who has been visiting tehran to meet iranian officials, says talks have taken place in an atmosphere of "honesty and cooperation". the former uk health secretary, matt hancock, and his staff agonised for hours over whether or not he broke covid guidance when he kissed his aide, leaked messages in the telegraph newspaper show. un countries are said to be finalising an agreement on a long—awaited environmental treaty to protect the high seas — the area of the ocean not

controlled by any one country. ukrainian and russian forces are fighting in the northern suburbs of the city of bakhmut — which has been battered by seven months of fighting. oleksandr marchenko, the deputy mayor, confirmed the street clashes, but said the russians haven't taken control. western analysts say the scene has been set for ukrainian forces to carry out a fighting withdrawal. a british defence ministry update said ukrainian soldiers are digging new trenches west of the city and are being reinforced by elite troops. the capture of bakhmut would be the first russian victory of note in more than six months of fighting. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, sent this report from the capital, kyiv.

this is bakhmut, or at least what is left of it after some of the fiercest fighting since russia invaded ukraine. for more than six months russian shells and missiles have rained down on the city, thousands of russian soldiers have died trying to seize it, now their commanders are growing increasingly confident. translation: we have - almost surrounded bakhmut. there is only one road that remains in and out of the city, the pincers are closing. before we were fighting against a professional ukrainian army, but now we fight against old men and boys. ukrainian forces are still defending the city street by street and reports suggest reinforcements are being sent in. but these russian troops, said the ukrainian army, is destroying bridges like these, potentially to prepare for what western analysts call a controlled fighting withdrawal from parts of the city.

local officials insist ukraine still controls bakhmut, but accept there is now fighting in the streets. translation: the city is almost destroyed, i not a single building has remained untouched. the bridges are destroyed, currently there is no communication in the city so it is cut off. the russians are shelling everything, they have no goal to save the city, they want to destroy bakhmut like they did with mariupol. russia broadcast pictures of its defence minister making a rare flying visit to his forces in eastern ukraine. for him and the kremlin seizing bakhmut will be a rare victory and they hope a stepping stone to gaining more territory. but for now ukrainian fighters on the ground still seem ready to fight them every inch of the way, with russia paying a much higher and bloodier price. james landale there.

the supreme commander of nato troops in europe, general christopher cavoli, has said the scale of the war in the country is �*unbelivable' — with 2,000 large battle tanks destroyed and more than 200,000 russian soldiers killed or wounded, including 1,800 officers. earlier i spoke to dr patrick bewree, a senior lecturer in security at the university of bath and a former british army captain. he says ukrainian forces are now trying to retreat west. what you have seen is politically the defence ministry and zelensky in ukraine set the ground, essentially, saying they are coming under increasing pressure in bakhmut. then you have seen the military in terms of these bridges having been destroyed, they have been geo— located, one in the west and one to the north—east, as far as i understand. that is about slowing the the russians down if they are trying to encircle the city. essentially they are in a difficult situation because they are under increasing pressure and what they want to do is basically get out with as much of their forces as they can and then re—establish defensive lines,

as james said, further to the west. a fighting withdrawal is really difficult to do. i did one at a low level in my own training and i totally messed it up to be honest. so imagine it at this scale, at the divisional level. there are a few principles of what the ukrainians are trying to do. command and control leadership is probably the most important. they have to maintain control of everything, all the moving parts. they will probably try to keep a screen to keep the russians engaged, if this is what they are going to. they will need some deception if they do nopt want the russians to know what is happening because then they could make a hasty attack to try to catch them off—guard. and they will need a rearguard etc. there is a whole set of principles which go into a controlled fighting withdrawal, which the ukrainians will be trying to effect. it is a difficult operation

to do really well. would the loss of bakhmut be a significant setback? there is argument over how strategically useful it is. i think the ukrainians, at a strategic level, are still playing a blinder. bakhmut is now ruined so putin is welcome to it, i think, in that regard. unfortunately there has been more of a blood sacrifice, which has made it more politically significant, and that's why you have seen such a stand—off on both sides. but strategically if you zoom out the map it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. even in the battle in the east, it has really been about sucking in resources on the russian side and giving the ukrainians the best chance of destroying those resources in a set piece battle. the head of the united nations nuclear watchdog —

who has been in tehran earlier today — says his meetings with iranian officials have taken place in an atmosphere of honesty and cooperation. it follows the discovering of suspected weapons grade uranium at iran's underground fordo site. rafael grossi of the international atomic energy agency met with the head of iran's atomic energy organisation, mohammad eslam. iran has been producing uranium to 60% purity for two years in breach of a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. the agreement, which was aimed at preventing iran from developing nuclear weapons, saw the country limit its nuclear activities and allow monitoring by the iaea's inspectors in return for relief from crippling economic sanctions. we are expecting a press conference with the iaea in vienna a bit later but lets discuss the important of the talks with kasra naji of the bbc�*s persian service. is there any legitimate reason that

there could be uranium enriched to this level which is near weapons grade? this level which is near weapons irade? ., ., , ., this level which is near weapons arade? . . this level which is near weapons urade? . . grade? iranians are saying there may have been what _ grade? iranians are saying there may have been what they _ grade? iranians are saying there may have been what they call _ grade? iranians are saying there may have been what they call unintended | have been what they call unintended fluctuations in the process of enrichment of the 60%. they say it is possible that the enrichment up to the level of 60%, there have been some unintended consequences and is part of that, there may have been some particles that were highly enriched. i don't know whether that is acceptable, and acceptable explanation by the iaea. the chief of the iaea rafael grossi went to tehran to get to the bottom of this and he is coming back within an hour orso

and he is coming back within an hour or so in vienna, when he touches down, he will have a press conference and we will know then whether he has received any agreeable explanation. even if they are not happy _ agreeable explanation. even if they are not happy with _ agreeable explanation. even if they are not happy with the _ agreeable explanation. even if they| are not happy with the explanation, what could the consequences be? as we have been saying, iran is already in breach of the 2015 nuclear deal because it has been openly enriching uranium to 60% for two years. the consequences _ uranium to 60% for two years. tue: consequences could uranium to 60% for two years. tte: consequences could be uranium to 60% for two years. tt2 consequences could be serious. next week there is a board of governors of the iaea meeting and they could decide to censure iran, condemn iran, passed a resolution against iran, passed a resolution against iran and even refer iran to the security council. if it goes to the security council. if it goes to the security council, consequences could be very serious. secondly, as far as the nuclear agreement is concerned,

the nuclear agreement is concerned, the europeans, americans, any of them can at any moment decide and say that because of iran in violation, they will pull out. if they do that, the whole thing will collapse and the international sanctions against iran will be reimposed. sanctions against iran will be reimposed-— sanctions against iran will be reimosed. ., , . , reimposed. there are consequences otentiall reimposed. there are consequences potentially but _ reimposed. there are consequences potentially but what _ reimposed. there are consequences potentially but what will _ reimposed. there are consequences potentially but what will the - potentially but what will the consequences of iran being in breach of the 2015 nuclear deal for two years? of the 2015 nuclear deal for two ears? . �* , . ., of the 2015 nuclear deal for two ears? . �*, _, , years? that's it. world powers, particularly _ years? that's it. world powers, particularly the _ years? that's it. world powers, particularly the us, _ years? that's it. world powers, particularly the us, the - years? that's it. world powers, particularly the us, the uk, - years? that's it. world powers, i particularly the us, the uk, france and germany are working together. they have to decide whether they want to stay within that nuclear agreement and if not, if they decide to pull out, then all those international sanctions against iran will be reimposed back on iran. that is pretty serious a development iran is pretty serious a development iran is in breach and not only that,

there is also a question of the iaea finding traces of radioactive material in three places in iran that iran had not declared before. the iaea has found that want iran to explain how traces of radioactive substance found its way into these places? iran hasn't answered that and that is another issue that is outstanding between iran and the iaea. ., ~ , ., outstanding between iran and the iaea. ., ~ ~ outstanding between iran and the iaea. ., ~ . ., iaea. thank you. we will find out more in the _ iaea. thank you. we will find out more in the press _ iaea. thank you. we will find out more in the press conference - iaea. thank you. we will find out l more in the press conference which we are expecting to take place in the next couple of hours. we will bring you that live when we get it. the daily telegraph has published more leaked whatsapp messages about the former health secretary, matt hancock. they appear to show that mr hancock and his staff agonised for hours over whether or not he broke covid guidance when he kissed his aide. mr hancock also criticises the then chancellor's eat 0ut to help 0ut scheme.

the revelations come as mps investigating the conduct of the former prime minister borisjohnson, say he may have misled parliament multiple times over gatherings at downing street during the pandemic. earlier i asked henry hill, the deputy editor of conservative home about how these latest allegations affect the party as a whole. it's obviously cutting across what was a very good week for rishi sunak. his windsor framework, this deal he struck to try and ameliorate the problems created by the northern ireland protocol, seemed to have gone down very well both with elements of his own party, who might have been expected to be critical, and with the public at large, and yet, here we are at the weekend and who are we talking about? borisjohnson. that is not what downing street will have wanted. there is a hard core of borisjohnson supporters and some of them may feel vindicated by his continual energetic rebutting of these concerns, but for the most part, this is not the image the party wanted to be projecting.

what do you think it does to any hopes he might of had of becoming more central to politics, making a return to it? does this quash his chances? borisjohnson is unquashable simply because he just refuses to go away but this is a reminder to any mps who might have been on the middle ground, there is a committee of borisjohnson supporters, but for mps who might have been tempted to maybe think borisjohnson is the solution, this story is a useful reminder of why he left office in the first place. in terms of the job offer for sue gray and the criticism that has come from various conservative voices about that, do you think any of those criticisms and concerns wash with conservative voters or is it a case of actually people had already made their mind up about where they stood on the party gate argument anyway?

i don't think sue gray's appointment is going to change anyone's mind about partygate, but for the people who believe it was a stitch up, it is further evidence to their minds that it is a stitch—up, but for everyone else there is no suggestion and no evidence sue gray's personal prerogative is in question. there are broader concerns about having a civil servant who has occupied such a sensitive role in conservative governments going to the opposition, but with partygate specifically, most sides are baked in at this point. you touched on it earlier about the week that prime minister rishi sunak has had with some of his successes with the windsor framework. but do you think all of this about borisjohnson, what effect do you think they have on how rishi sunak is viewed by party members? again, it's an unhelpful reminder for the party and the core party members who support borisjohnson but it comes down to how he handles

this because this story, whilst it is cutting across his good news story about northern ireland, it is a reminder of the sort of leadership that rishi sunak has made a point of putting behind the party. he is saying he is steadying the ship, trying to offer a more professional brand of leadership and again, if he makes sure this is fire walled off and doesn't take ownership of it, it is a reminder for members that however much they might have liked borisjohnson, he came with serious downsides and there is a reason his government ended up imploding. how steady do think that ship will remain in the continuing leaks over former health secretary matt hancock's whatsapp messages? to an extent that will depend what is in them. 0bviously some of that might make uncomfortable reading for the former chancellor because he was chancellor at the time and therefore he was involved in some of those decision—making but ultimately,

he was relatively sceptical of a lot of the lockdowns which i think for the conservatives, that is no bad thing and unless there is a big smoking gun, the lockdown story is a pre—rishi sunak story and matt hancock and borisjohnson are both on the back benches and i don't think the government will suffer particularly. thank you. un countries are said to be finalising an agreement on a long—awaited environmental treaty to protect the high seas — the area of the ocean not controlled by any one country. after more than 15 years of informal and then formal talks, negotiators are coming to the end of discussions at a summit in new york. the high seas make up more than half of the surface of the earth and are crucial in the fight against climate change. earlier i spoke to liz karan, the programme director for protecting 0cean life on the high seas at the pew charitable trusts, about why protecting

the ocean is so important. the oceans play a critical role in making sure that there is atmosphere in the carbon cycle. every second breath we take comes from the ocean. it also gives us food security, marine biodiversity, which is essential for people and nature and a healthy planet. the high seas make two thirds of the world's oceans so protecting the high seas is critical part of protecting our planet. many of us when we hear the phrase high seas we associate it with pirate stories. how is it defined and where exactly is the boundary set between national waters? the high seas are those areas that are beyond 200 nautical miles of a country's exclusive economic zone and those boundaries were set by the un sea convention, that was negotiated in the 1980s. what are the negotiations like at the moment? how close do you think

we are to any kind of resolution? what are the stumbling blocks? we are right now into overtime on the negotiations. they were supposed to conclude on friday evening. negotiators have been going for over a 24—hour straight, really working hard to come to a deal to protect the world's oceans. sticky issues are around benefit sharing, ensuring that this will be an effective and equitable agreement, one that developing countries can participate in and have a capacity to do so as well as technology to participate in conservation and sustainable use of the marine environment. it is also about how decisions will be made about these high seas and whether or not those decisions will be by consensus or whether there could be a voting procedure.

that is important because we don't want protections in these global areas to be held up by one country because it is such an important issue that these areas are protected. unite has defended notjoining other health unions in suspending strike action by ambulance workers planned for england next week. unison and gmb called off their walkouts after the government agreed to re—open pay talks for both this and the next financial year. unite says it rejected the talks because the government's pre—conditions were unreasonable. let's get some of the day's other news. the roman catholic church in portugal has promised to take steps to deal with its history of child sex abuse. it follows a highly critical report that found that nearly five thousand children had been abused by clergy since 1950. a un report says gang related violence in haiti has reached levels not seen in decades.

in a new assessment the organisiation says criminal gangs that control many parts of haiti are getting more access to sophisticated weapons and ammunition. the white house says president biden had a cancerous skin lesion successfully removed from his chest last month. doctors say no further treatment is required. the lesion was spotted during a routine health check and a biopsy confirmed it was a common form of skin cancer which does not normally spread. the special oil, which will be used to anoint king charles at his coronation in may, has been formally consecrated at a ceremony injerusalem. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell explains more. it is the most sacred moment of the coronation service. at the coronation of the late queen elizabeth she was shielded from view by a canopy

as she was annointed with holy oil. yesterday at the church of the holy sepulchre injerusalem, the oil to be used at the coronation of king charles was consecrated. it has been made from olives harvested from the mount of olives, and perfumed with traditional oils and orange blossom. it was brought to the church, built on the spot where it is believed christ was crucified, to be blessed by the patriarch and the anglican archbishop ofjerusalem. the consecration of the oil for the enthronement and the coronation brings about something of the deep and profound meaning both to king charles, to the church injerusalem, to the holy land, and i think to the whole world. the oil will be brought to westminster abbey in london, where at the coronation service, and in line with ancient tradition, it will be used to anoint the king and queen consort. the academy awards takes place next weekend. as acting royalty gather in hollywood, among them will be

veteran british actor bill nighy, who has been nominated for an oscar for the first time for his role in living. author kazuo ishiguro, who wrote the screenplay, has also been nominated. if he wins, ishiguro will be only the third person to ever win both a nobel prize and an oscar. they've been talking to our la correspondent, sophie long. dad, you all right? mr williams, a bureaucrat in 1950s london, has resigned himself to an ordinary, repetitive life. it's only when he's told he'll soon die that he realises he's forgotten how to live. it's an adaptation of a film made in kazuo ishiguro's native japan more than 70 years ago, with a lead role written by the nobel prize—winning novelist specifically for bill nighy. for me, the eureka moment was when i thought, oh, what if bill nighy was in this film? notjust in it, he was at the centre of it.

and i could suddenly see how the whole film could work. if bill wasn't going to be part of that, i wouldn't have been persuaded to do it. i was up to my neck writing a novel anyway. because, for me, the concept wasn't a remark of this kurosawa film, it was this thing with bill in it. and the other thing was that it should feel like a british movie from the 1950s, that was the other interesting aspect. for you, bill, is that a dream come true to have a part like this written for you or is it a huge amount of pressure? it's more of the former and a little bit of the letter. i mean, but no, i didn't actually feel, weirdly, because i'm quite good at manufacturing pressure, i didn't feel daunted or oppressed by the original film or by the situation. ijust felt that i was very fortunate, i mean, beyond lucky to be actually considered in those terms. not — least by mr ishiguro.

the result is a quintessentially british study in restraint, from written word to delivery. a sweetly sentimental drama unfolds as mr williams befriends a young employee whose effortless exuberance inspires him to leave something lasting and give life meaning in the face of death. oh, my aching back. you know that feeling before breakfast? - it's led to first—time 0scar nominations for both men in careers that collectively spanned more than eight decades. you have been very well recognised in your work — won the booker prize, nobel prize for literature. how does an oscar nomination compare? compares pretty well actually. the nobel prize is like a european fairy story. you know, you go to some sort of european palace covered in snow and meet kings and queens.

this is the real hollywood dream kind of thing. it feels like you have somehow come to the middle of the american dream. it feels very, very good. it's marvellous. it's a great thing. it's exciting for myself and for my family and for everybody back home. i had an invasive medical procedure recently and just before he performed this invasive medical procedure, the doctor said, "i have never done this to an oscar nominee before." and then he did something truly invasive, which i'm not going to describe because it would make you all very uneasy. but that's the sort of, that's the effect it's had on my life. this man who until yesterday - was living a shell of an existence. and i so very much do not wish to do so.

i can't believe bill nighy had never been nominated for an oscar until now. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. plenty of spring flowers to try and brighten up our weekend, but if you look to the skies, it's all about shades of grey, this weekend. a lot of cloud around, particularly out to the west. a few breaks here and there, but there's also a scattering of nuisance showers across north and east—facing coasts in particular. in terms of the feel of the weather, 6 to 9 degrees, so on the chilly side with those grey skies, but nowhere near as cold as it's going to get. the breeze will freshen a little through the night and that could drive in more showers across exposed coasts and a frequent rash starts to develop across the north of scotland, turning increasingly wintry to the tops of the mountains here. 0n the whole, we keep the cloud, but we can't rule out if there are a few breaks, it could be a little touch of light frost here and there. so it's a chilly start to sunday morning.

again, a largely grey one. there'll be plenty of showers on exposed coasts and more widespread showers start to develop across the far north of scotland. once again, those temperatures will sit between six and eight or nine degrees. indications of the cold air, though, starting to arrive into the northern isles. yes, from sunday night into monday morning, it's going to turn increasingly cold and windy, which means that we're also going to increase the risk of some snow and some ice around. and that's because we've got arctic air starting to push down from the north. the high pressure that's dominated is starting to slip away from the uk. and we've got this weather front arriving. it's a cold front introducing this cold air behind. so to start with, it'll be rain as it pushes its way steadily south. and then we will see a frequent rash of showers into northern scotland and potentially, northeast england. here, temperatures 4 to 6 degrees. ahead of it on monday, still in that milder air, so we might see nine or ten. the remnants of that front eases away during the early hours of tuesday.

behind, tuesday will be a case of sunny spells and scattered showers, showers most frequent along the north and east coasts. and yes, they could be wintry in nature. and accompanied by a brisk northerly wind, it's going to feel more like close to freezing. that is going to be quite a shock to the system. so if you've got outdoor plans next week, it's certainly worth keeping abreast of the weather story, particularly monday into tuesday, where snow and ice could be an issue across north, east and east scotland, and northeast england.

this is bbc news, the headlines... russian and ukrainian forces are fighting in the streets of bakhmut but russia does not control the city, its deputy mayor has said. 4,000 civilians are living in shelters without access to electricity or water. the head of the united nations nuclear watchdog says talks with iranian officials have taken place in an atmosphere of honesty and cooperation. it follows the discovery of suspected weapons grade uranium at iran's underground fordow site. the uk government's former health secretary matt hancock and his staff agonised for hours over whether or not he broke covid guidance when he kissed his aide, leaked messages published in the daily telegraph newspaper show. un countries are said to be finalising an agreement on a long—awaited environmental treaty to protect the high seas — the area of the ocean not controlled by any one country —

after years of talks.