been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. and millions of catholics around the world prepare to say a final farewell at the funeral of pope benedict xvi. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the us house of representatives has adjourned for a second day without electing a speaker, extending the paralysis at the heart of american politics. president biden said having a congress that can t function is embarassing for the country. republican kevin mccarthy has been stopped six times so far by a group of hardliners within his own party who refuse to back him. without a speaker the chamber is unable to swear in members, fill vital committee roles or adopt rules for passing legislation. let s speak to our north america correspondent peter bowes. what has just happened, what is going on? good question. another rollercoaster david the end result is the same, voting for the new speaker, in that there is no result, the impasse, the deadlock continues because kevi
a ukrainian military commander in the shattered eastern town of bakhmut has described to the bbc the fierceness of the fighting there. he said he hadn t seen russian forces fight anywhere else with similar determination, advancing under fire even when the ground was littered with their comrades bodies. a us official has said russian forces have made incremental advances around the town, with mercenaries from the russian paramilitary wagner group heavily involved in the assault. the battle has been described as a meat grinder with high numbers of casualties on both sides. almost all of the city s 70,000 occupants have fled. russia is working hard to capture bakhmutin the hope it could lead to the fall of sloviansk and kramatorsk as well, the two most important cities in the donbas still under ukrainian control. but ukrainian forces are holding firm. the bbc s yogita limaye reports from the city. munitons explode. this is what the merciless bombardment of a city looks like.
welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. a ukrainian military commander in the shattered eastern town of bakhmut has described to the bbc the fierceness of the fighting there. he said he hadn t seen russian forces fight anywhere else with similar determination, advancing under fire even when the ground was littered with their comrades bodies. a us official has said russian forces have made incremental advances around the town, with mercenaries from the russian paramilitary wagner group heavily involved in the assault. the battle has been described as a meat grinder , with high numbers of casualties on both sides. almost all of the city s 70,000 occupants have fled. russia is working hard to capture bakhmut in the hope it could lead to the fall of sloviansk and kramatorsk as well the two most important cities in the donbas still under ukrainian control. but ukrainian forces are holding firm. the bbc s yogita limaye reports from the city. munitons expl
and the number of prisoners freed to 117. let s take a closer look at some of the hostages released by hamas today. among the group are sisters, dafna and ela elyakim. they were attacked at their home in kibbutz nir oz. the girls were part of a family group whose capture was live streamed by the attackers themselves. also for the first time, an american israeli citizen was released earlier today. abigail idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage she spent her fourth birthday in captivity. her parents were killed by hamas gunmen during the october seven attacks. her great aunt and cousin said they hoped and prayed today would come and expressed graititude to president biden, the qatari government and other parties involved in helping the release. they also said today s release proves that we can get all the hostages back home. the israel defense forces spokesman daniel hagari said the release of four year old abigail was proof this is a justified war, fighting a
truce with hamas, whilst 39 palestinian women and children were released from israeli prisons as a part of the hostage deal between israel and hamas. today s releases brings the total number of hostages released during the window to sa and the number of prisoners freed to 117. let s take a closer look at some of the hostages released by hamas today. among the group are sisters, dafna and ela elyakim. they were attacked at their home in kibbutz nir oz. the girls were part of a family group whose capture was live streamed by the hamas attackers themselves. also for the first time, an american israeli citizen was released earlier today. abigail idan was just three at the time she was taken hostage she spent her fourth birthday in captivity. her parents were killed by hamas gunmen during the october 7th attacks. her great aunt and cousin said they hoped and prayed today would come, and expressed graititude to president biden, the qatari government and other parties involved in