we start in south—west russia, where one official there says ukraine has carried out the most "severe" shelling since the kremlin�*s full—scale invasion of ukraine began. these pictures show smoke rising above the city of belgorod where russia's emergency ministry says 20 people, including three children, killed in air strikes. more than 100 others were injured. kyiv says only military facilities were targeted. the city is located approximately a0 kilometres north of the border with ukraine, 80 kilometres away from the ukrainian city of kharkiv. it comes a day after friday's massive bombardment of ukraine, the biggest of the war so far. ukraine's president zelensky says at least 39 people were killed when 150 russian missiles and drones were launched at cities across ukraine. here's our russia editor steve rosenberg. caught on dash—cam,

a giant explosion in the centre of belgorod. there was panic as people ran for cover — not everyone could. russia says at least 20 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured after a series of ukrainian strikes on the heart of the city. although the russian military claimed it had shot down most of the missiles as emergency crews rushed to the scene, the scale of the damage became clear. billowing smoke making belgorod look more than ever like a front—line city. ukraine's border is just 20 miles away. the local governor said these were the deadliest consequences of ukrainian shelling that his region had experienced. the attack came just a day after russia had carried out a huge wave of strikes across ukraine with missiles

and with drones. at least 39 people, kyiv said, were killed. belgorod has come under attack before... ..with explosions like this one at the airport and at a power station. this kind of thing never happened before russia launched its full scale invasion of ukraine. now a deadly new strike on the eve of the new year holiday. russia has already hit back with new attacks of its own. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. ukraine's military says its air defence system has been activated in kyiv to repel a russian drone attack. and one person has been killed in kherson by russian shelling. officials in kharkiv say russian strikes hit a hotel and residential building. 19 people were injured,

no deaths have been reported. let's turn now to the middle east, where israel says its forces have raided hamas sites in the city of khan younis as it extends its offensive in the south of gaza. the idf says it's recovered what it called "very valuable intelligence material". health officials in gaza say 165 palestinians have been killed in the last day. a representative from the un relief agency for palestinian refugees told the bbc that displaced gazans are living in the open and in the parks. meanwhile, there are reports that in recent days at least 100,000 people have fled to rafah, which borders egypt in southern gaza. amid the deepening humanitarian crisis israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, gave a defiant tv address — israel would continue fighting on all fronts and that the war would last many more months until victory is achieved. yolande knell sent this report from jerusalem. translation: the war is at its translation: the war is at its

hei . ht. we translation: the war is at its heiaht. we are fiaahtin on all height. we are fighting on all of the fronts. we have huge success but we also have painful cases. achieving victory will require time. as the israeli army chief of staff has said, the war will continue for many more months. yolande knell sent this report from jerusalem. israel's widening military campaign in gaza is now focused on the three urban refugee camps in the centre, but hasn't abated in the north and in the south, and khan younis, seeing fees street battles going on still between hamas fighters and israeli soldiers. this is where israel believes that hamas leaders may be hiding. write down on the border with egypt, tens of thousands of gazans have arrived there in just the past few days, clean from the latest fighting. they have been pitching makeshift tents but there is very little sanitation there. food and water are in short supply. and we're hearing about the spread, the increased spread of infectious diseases. looking

forward into the new year, palestinians are desperate for a ceasefire and israeli families of those 100 plus hostages still held by hamas in gaza are extremely worried, they want their loved ones brought home. in his latest television address, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has reiterated that the war will go on until victory was achieved over hamas and that could take months. yolande knell reporting there. federal prosecutors asked a us appeals court saturday to reject the former president's claims that he is immune from criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. mr trump faces four counts, including conspiring to defraud the us. he has pleaded not guilty. but mr trump's legal team is arguing the former president is immune from criminal liability and that the case against him should be dismissed. it comes as two us states — colorado and maine — have opted to remove the former president from the primary ballot over his actions they allege as insurrection on six january, 2021 —

moves which could be taken up by the us supreme court. some prominent republicans, including former trump white house counsel ty cobb, are joining special counsel jack smith in arguing against immunity for the former president. i spoke with mr cobb earlier. ty cobb, thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. now, you are a lawyer for the trump white house. despite that, you have now decided to back special counsel jack smith and arguing against the former president, why is that? well, there is no change of view on my part. when i was at the white house i didn't believe presidents have immunity they still don't that, and i don't believe it constitutionally. asa as a free citizen and form a government employee i am

totally at ease with taking a position on this and one consistent with the constitution. there is no criminal immunity in the constitution, and the president's position on impeachment is absurd and will be exposed as such. thejudge's opinion is quite impressive. she got it right. it was fairly stated and she dealt with every argument that the president and his lawyers presented, for which there was absolutely no legal support and consistent with the compass constitution. i just want to point out, donald trump has pleaded not guilty to charges, also overturn a presidential election, i want to get your view, how do you assess his actions between the november 2020 election, and the us capitol onjanuary 6, 2021?

it is interesting, as you say. he plead not guilty to that conduct but his position in this particular appeal is even if he did it it was ok, because he was immune as president of the united states. he's already conceded in other pleadings that he did so in his capacity as an individual and a candidate. that totally disposes of the argument that he's presented and will be considered by the dc circuit. you know, in addition to being irrelevant, is that he did insight people and he did attempt to prevent the laws of the united states being carried out faithfully and he did prevent, attempt to prevent, a peaceful transfer of power. i think those are constitutional crimes, we have never ever before encountered, and i think

they shake the foundation of — the constitutional foundation of the united states in a way that requires justice. so all of that, then, i guess, brings us to the question of what we've seen in colorado and maine, those moves to remove donald trump from the ballot under the 14th amendment of the us constitution. if we do see the supreme court take up that case, how do you think that it will rule in that? i believe the vote will be overwhelmingly contrary to the position that colorado and maine have taken, because, sadly, the article 3 specifies who it applies to and it doesn't mention the president or the vice president, unlike other articles in the constitution which, you know, specifically do mention president and vice president when it talks to applicability and the case law is such as officers of the united states is a phrase that is understood

to be appointed officers under article 2, but doesn't, unless specified include the president and vice president. i think the law favours the former president in connection with the maine and colorado decisions and i think he will be on the ballot. could ijust ask, what do you think this would mean for his campaign if the supreme court does rule in his favour? it's really hard to say, i mean, in an ordinary case, somebody who has reasonably been found liable of sexual assault and related and is facing this many indictments would not be eligible material. in this crazy time in which we live, his supporters seem to think that qualifies him more for president. i'm sad that it's come to that in america and i hope that people wake up and do what they have to do. they're not going to be able to do it by kicking him off the ballot but they can certainly rebuke him

at the ballot box and i think that's the way our process was designed and hopefully it will way it will all walk. i don't think there is a republican party at least as it was formerly known, as long as trump is the leader and continually picking candidates and abusing his influence. you know, to destroy the party. i m mean, most of the candidates he supported and picked have cost seats in the senate and seats in the house, republicans would probably be up to a0 seats in the house and ten in the senate, but for trump, i don't think that trump's stature does anything for the republican party, he doesn't really care on principle, i don't think, between the parties. he is interested in power and in being in charge. so i think that republicans... crosstalk. if i mayjust ask you...

i never have. yet, no, iwould not. and i never have and i do believe that it's important for republicans and chris christie too, you know, call him out. make it plain that he should not be a candidate for the united states, he should be injail. ty cobb, former trump white house lawyer, thank you for being with us. always a pleasure, thank you so much. with the 2024 us presidential election approaching, women's reproductive rights is a top issue for voters, according to polls. but there is an under—reported crisis where black mothers are far more likely to die in childbirth than any other race. according to the centers for disease control, for every 100,000 live births for black women — there are 69.9 deaths. that's nearly three times higher than white and hispanic or latina women. the cdc says that 84% of these deaths were preventable. the us has the highest rate of maternal deaths overall,

despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world. congressional leaders have sought to pass legislation to end the crisis, but advocacy groups and health leaders say more should be done to bring structural change. a short while ago, i spoke to the global race and justice editor at reuters, kat stafford. kat stafford, really great to have you back with us on the bbc. i appreciate your time. when we spoke earlier this year, you'vejust done an investigative deep dive into health disparities impacting black americans, all the way through the life course from birth to death, in particular as well, why so many more black women die in pregnancy. ijust wonder, do you think that started a conversation in this country? well, i think a lot of people were already discussing black maternal mortality and this long—standing impact that it's had on black women for decades. but i think what my project did at the time was really layout

and explain how this is something that is a generational problem, this isn't something that just started recently. and i think the project was really able to show the causes of this, the effects of this, and what a black baby experiences at the start of its life lays the foundation for health inequities they encounter over the course of their life. i think right now, this conversation is really taking off. we are seeing a lot of people on the ground saying we know it need more attention on this, we need more action on this, the publication of that project. as you said, your reporting was very clear when it comes to the cause and effects. that conversation continues. have we seen any concrete steps, though, coming out of that? well, i think one alarming thing that happened was when the cdc, the centers for disease control, released their most recent stats earlier this year, we saw another increase in terms of maternal

mortality across the country and those numbers made a particular emphasis on how black women were yet again being disparately impacted. so, while the conversation has taken off, while we are seeing a lot of folks still discussing this, demanding for this to be at the forefront, people are saying right now that we are just not seeing a real change and people are demanding that we see lawmakers, whether that's on a state and local level or in a federal level all the way up to the presidency, people — and when i say people, i mean advocates, doctors, experts, women who have had these disparate outcomes — they really want to see notjust money and resources go toward this but they want to see some of the structural issues that i've reported about along the way, such as structural racism, biases, discrimination, all of these things that black women encounter throughout the course of their health care, they want to see these

things actually addressed. as you point out, we had those stark statistics coming out from the cdc and with all of that in mind, 2024 as well just around the corner, do you think that this is an issue that will come up in the election, especially if we look as well, this will be the first presidential election since the dobbs decision as well? when you think about reproductive rights in this country, a lot of people have been pointing to the fact that black women and other women of colour are going to be the ones that are most impacted by the dobbs decision. when you see less access to reproductive rights, when they're talking about abortions, a lot of experts have been sounding the alarm already that we may continue to see another increase in terms of black maternal mortality. specifically, black women already are three times — almost three times more likely to die during childbirth than white women.

so, we already have some pretty startling statistics, so people are looking at what's happening with abortion rights in this country and raising the question right now of could we potentially see that rate increase yet again because of what's happening? so, we're seeing a lot of advocates, i would say, right now. when they're looking ahead to 2024, they are looking at the presidential candidates and trying to understand where they stand on this. is itjust lip service or are we actually going to see resources being devoted to this? are we actually going to see the care that black women have been receiving, are we going to see this being disrupted? and i think people are willing to vote in regards to who they believe shows that they are actually caring about this issue that is really, again, been in place for such a long time in this country. and kat, one thing that is striking, i guess, to perhaps people outside the united states is how precarious health services can be outside

—— in a developed the country for people basied on their employment status, their employment opportunities. do you see the future of the affordable care act coming up for discussion once again through the presidential election? i think that's something that people really want to see discussed, right? when you think about some of the critical issues that americans care about right now, health care is at the top of that. and if you think about the inequities and how black people across the board are more likely to experience a lot of these issues throughout the course of their lifetime, that is something voters really care about right now. but one thing that i think is particularly interesting when we think about the black mortality crisis is that for black women, regardless of their socioeconomic status, regardless of how much money they make, regardless of even how much education they receive, they are still more likely to die — and that includes whether they had the best insurance — so this is indicative

of a serious issue. this is something that, again, doctors have been raising for quite a long time and they are saying this isn't about black women, something being wrong with them. this is about something being wrong with our nation's health care system in terms of really providing equitable care across the board for everyone. black women throughout the course of time that i've been reporting on the subject, they've told me and many other reporters when they enter the health care system, they feel their concerns aren't heard, they feel they aren't listened to. so, yes, i think the affordable care act is something people — something they really care about, they are also saying that right now we need to deal with these rude and structural issues that have caused these long—standing inequities. thank you, kat stafford, justice editor at reuters, always great to hear from you. thank you. north korea's leader kim jong—un says his country faces unprecedented pressure from the united states and has no option but to press on with its nuclear ambitions. mr kim said next year

north korea would forge closer ties with other countries opposed to washington. he made the comments at the close of the ruling party's annual yet—end meeting that sets the economic, military, and foreign policy goals for the coming year. joining me live is robert kelly. he's a political analyst on inter—korean affairs. very good to have you with us this evening. what do you make of some of these comments from kimjong—un and of some of these comments from kim jong—un and do you think that regional leaders, western allies, will be taking themselves seriously? well, there's nothing _ themselves seriously? well, there's nothing really - themselves seriously? well, there's nothing really that i themselves seriously? well, | there's nothing really that we haven't heard from the north koreans before. it would be really remarkable if kim jong—un or anyone in the leadership came out and said that things were getting better and we can talk to the south koreans and maybe the americans aren't so bad and we could strike a deal with them. the north koreans never really talked about a lot of that is most certainly because it needs to justify its own existence. if it wasn't as oppositional relationship with south korea

and the us there would be no reason for north korea to exist in the same way that one sees germany gave up socialism and the billing wall came down there was no reason to exist alone anymore so they always talk this way because it helps explain why they exist at all and it also explains the privation that its citizens suffer so i don't think it's really remarkable that mid north talks this way, the bottom threatened to make war before and to be honest i think the big thing coming up from what i've heard from the conference is this discussion about the reconnaissance is operationally something new but in terms of political rhetoric, i don't think there's much new here. . ~' . i don't think there's much new here. . ~ ., ., here. talking about some of the reconnaissance, _ here. talking about some of the reconnaissance, the _ here. talking about some of the reconnaissance, the spy - reconnaissance, the spy satellites and plans to reportedly put three more up next year. reportedly put three more up next year-— reportedly put three more up next year.- how - reportedly put three more up - next year.- how concerned next year. right. how concerned do ou next year. right. how concerned do you think _ next year. right. how concerned do you think the _ next year. right. how concerned do you think the west _ next year. right. how concerned do you think the west should - next year. ii grit how concerned do you think the west should be about that if you say it's something new? is to a point now where when it comes to the military technology that there is a strong advancement here? well, we don't know yet, right? the first couple of crashes, the first couple of lodges lastly crashed and then one

went up and the south koreans and the us were coy sharing about it with the international community because they were not sure what the north koreans were doing and then they lied about it so right now it's kind of hard to know but what's important is the north koreans are increasingly looking for satellite reconnaissance over south korea presumably and the us. ithink south korea presumably and the us. i think we are concerned they are getting up from the russians because we know now that kim jong—un russians because we know now that kimjong—un is russians because we know now that kim jong—un is throwing his weight or whatever behind the russian war in ukraine and the russian war in ukraine and the russians in turn are giving him missiles and satellite technology. this first thing. it's not increasingly clear that if you are putting up satellites for reconnaissance it means the north koreans are planning to fight any future conflict with missiles and almost certainly it means nuclear attack missiles. the south korean state is not a conventional terrestrial one anymore, it's really more about missiles and you have to have satellites for better targeting so this is new.— so this is new. the bbc has soken so this is new. the bbc has spoken with _ so this is new. the bbc has spoken with north - so this is new. the bbc has spoken with north korean i spoken with north korean defectors who have described

the deteriorating humanitarian situation inside north korea that you were just alluding to. right. that you were 'ust alluding to. richt. ., ., , ., , right. from anything to severe food shortages. _ right. from anything to severe food shortages. do _ right. from anything to severe food shortages. do you - right. from anything to severe food shortages. do you think. right. from anything to severe food shortages. do you think is heightened rhetoric by kim jong—un or continued heightened rhetoric could essentially be interpreted as a way to distract from the situation within its own borders? absolutely. north korea has had a current efficiency on average going back to the 1990s, it requires outside subsidisation in order to survive, china provides that but doesn't fully step up to the north korean military has an enormous amount of resources out of the north korean gdp away from the agricultural sector where it is needed. we don't have a lot of good information and there is a defective community and we talk to them and that had sporadic access to north koreans but most north koreans don't meet the minimum who caloric intake threshold and in other words it means they are living under malnutrition and there's no reason to but to stop. they are

building more with michael buk missiles and weapons and submarines and all the satellites require a lot of resources from a country that is very poor. they didn't have nuclear weapons, we understand it something they could throw a war backward or a failed state and so the more you put into the military in a country like that the end result of that is privations of this will continue.— privations of this will continue. ., , , continue. robert kelly, political _ continue. robert kelly, political analyst - continue. robert kelly, political analyst on - continue. robert kelly, l political analyst on inter- political analyst on inter— korean affairs, always good to get your take. korean affairs, always good to get your take-— get your take. thank you for havin: get your take. thank you for having me- _ a british army officer is believed to have become the fastest woman to ever complete a solo ski expedition to the south pole. captain preet chandi or �*polar preet,�* as she's become known, covered the 1130km in a record time of just over 31 days. this was her third trip to the antarctic region and faced temperatures of minus 30 degrees celsius. finally, to a dog walk in madrid with a message. hundreds of dogs and their humans strolled the streets of madrid saturday for the traditional sanperrestre walk, raising awareness about animal abandonment.

an animal protection group arranges the annual event that's their take on the traditional year—end san silvestre run through the city. it promotes pet adoption. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. the weather's been continuing to cause some disruption through the final few days of 2023. we've had heavy rain, heavy snow across parts of scotland on saturday. for new year's eve on sunday, still some strong winds and heavy showers, especially in the south and the west. generally, a bit drier and less windy across the north—east of the uk, away from the northern isles — that is where we'll have this lingering weather front. but low pressure very much with us, drifting its way gradually eastwards, and there'll be a rash of showers rotating around that area of low pressure, blown in on these brisk west or south—westerly winds. so, the strongest of the winds probably for the south—west of england. the channel isles could be gusting 60 miles an hour. similar for the northern isles, too. 50 mile per hour gusts possible through the davis straits,

for instance. and plenty of those heavy showers, really, across southern and western parts of england, wales, northern ireland and south west scotland. 6—10 degrees cooler than recent days. some drier conditions for central parts of scotland, perhaps the east of the pennines and in northern england as well. but if you're planning on heading out to see some fireworks new year's eve, let's look at what the weather is doing around about midnight. and there are still some showers across southern england and wales but they will, i think, tend to ease a little bit in frequency, so you may miss them. they are still blowing in on these fairly brisk winds, though. i think most of the showers will be across northern england, perhaps northern ireland as well and a few of them across the north—east of scotland, where they could be wintry, but some clearer and drier weather central and western scotland as well. so, really, it's going to be a mixed picture around midnight with a scattering of showers almost anywhere. moving through into the early hours of monday, new year's day, and the winds

will start to ease a little bit for most of us, it'll be frost—free but some frost and some icy conditions, particularly if you've got that lying snow across the north—east of scotland. new year's day itself, still some showers around but they're going to tend to ease for northern ireland, parts of southern scotland, northern england as well. so, some drier, brighter, less windy weather for many of us. but heavy rain close to the south coast here just could push in for the likes of the isle of wight, perhaps sussex and kent, for instance, as well. and then, more persistent rain will rattle its way through later on monday into tuesday as well so a spell of wetter weather, i think, later in the day and more of the same to come over the next week or so. it's still unsettled. further spells of rain. perhaps a little bit cooler and drier towards the end of next week. bye— bye. out of that?

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. a moment in history — the coronation of king charles iii. god save the king! congregation: god save the king! - cheering

across three days in may, the nation celebrated the newly crowned king and queen. at a star—studded concert, a poignant tribute from prince william. as my grandmother said when she was crowned, coronations are a declaration of our hopes for the future. and i know she's up there fondly keeping an eye on us. and she'll be a very proud mother. cheering also this year, prince harry reveals family secrets in his bestselling memoir and in evidence as he takes on the british press. and digging deep on his first official royal engagement, five—year—old prince louis. crowd: god save the king! god save the king!