welcome to the programme. beforejoe biden spoke in warsaw this evening, the white house pushed back on a narrative that this was a split screen moment, pitting the american president against vladimir putin. yet the very fact the two men were giving wildly different accounts of the war, on the same day, and just hours apart, makes the comparison unavoidable. in fact, at certain points in this address, joe biden tackled head on the charges president putin had laid earlier in the day. the appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. they must be opposed. autocrats only understand one word no, no, no. cheering no, you will not take my country. no, you will not take my freedom. no, you will not take my future. here wasjoe biden returning to a familiar theme. that global confrontation between democracies and autocracy. since he first picked up that theme in the wake of january 6th, western democracies have recovered some of their swagger. that confidence, said the president, flo
current situation. boxing day sales begin in the uk but will the high streets be busy or will shoppers be cutting back as the cost of living crisis bites? and north america s deep freeze. severe winter weather claims 38 lives across the united states and canada. hello and welcome to bbc news. a russian air base hundreds of kilometres from ukraine has come under attack for the second time in less than a month. the russian defence ministry says the engels base in the southern saratov region was targetted by ukrainian drones during the night. russia says it shot down the drones, but that three of its servicemen were killed by falling debris. the airfield is believed to house russian long range strategic bombers. there has been no comment from ukraine. the bbc s russia editor steve rosenberg says the last attack on the airbase, three weeks ago, led to calls for tighter security. this is deep inside russian territory. when the first attack happened earlier this month that wa
Best interests of the country. Well have all the details and plenty of reaction from westminster and beyond. The other main stories on bbc news at 5 the Inflation Rate hits a 2. 5 year peak largely due to higher prices for fuel and food and the fall in the pound. The libyan man who claims that british agents took part in his kidnap in 2004 is given permission to take legal action. And alun wynjones becomes the new wales captain for the 2017 six nations, ending Sam Warburtons six year tenure. Its five oclock. Our main story is the Prime Ministers first major speech on the governments strategy for leaving the European Union. Shes underlined some of the key aims of the forthcoming talks, and promised that members of parliament at westminster will be able to vote on the final deal when it emerges. Lets run through some of the main points. Mrs may said the uk Cannot Possibly remain within the european Single Market, because staying in would mean in effect but the Prime Minister promised to